Second Chances I - Reset
by clexa4ever
Summary: "What the hell is going on? Why are you here? Where the hell am I?" she asked and Becca smiled, exactly what she expected from the blonde girl, questions. "For the question number one, a lot is going on, Clarke but it will all be explained quite soon. Question number two, I am here to be your guide through this experience and as for question number three, welcome to...
1. Praimfaya

Praimfaya

The moment she saw the height of the tower, Clarke knew that her fate was sealed. The nightblood solution wouldn't hold against the death wave that she knew was coming in a matter of minutes, minutes in which she had to climb up the tower, do what needed to be done according to Raven's instructions, climb down, get back to the lab and join the others in time for the rocket to launch.

But there was no way she could do all of that and get back in the 10 minutes Raven gave her to do it and she knew that if they waited for her for too long, her friends would die as well, so all she hoped for was that she could at least help them by getting this done in time for them to get into space and into what is left of the Ark and that her talk with Bellamy, about using his head more often, would help him now to make the hard choice of leaving without her since it was for the best. It had to be done.

She looked up and took a deep breath before she recited the grounder's passing phrase as she remembered when she heard those words coming from the lips of the love of her life. Yes, that is right, Clarke thinks as she starts the climb. Despite whatever she had with Niylah which was nothing more than a physical companionship and what was the beginning of a friendship, it was obvious to her who was the sole owner of her heart.

And it was the Commander of the 13 clans, the last true Commander as Roan had referred to her during his speech after they brokered a truce so she could find a way to save them from Praimfaya. Lexa was a part of her, the other half of her soul and much like all the losses she experienced on earth, they barely had time to be together, to explore their feelings and each other and she had even less time to grieve her love's death with an apocalypse coming their way and having to save humanity once again.

However, now as she reaches the middle of the tower, she lets herself cry silent tears for the pain of losing someone that changed her life and changed her in so many different and beautiful ways. She lets herself feel everything she has been running from ever since that fateful afternoon where a beautiful memory ended up followed by a terrible and endless nightmare. That is one of the worst parts for Clarke, given that not a couple of minutes before she lost Lexa, she finally found herself ready to let the brunette into her heart and mind again, not that she ever left really, along with a promise of someday that turned into never.

She had tried and tried and tried and then tried some more to forget the girl with eyes as green as the Earth, she even went to bed with someone else in a mix of needing human contact and punishing the person who hurt her so much but those eyes, they've always found a way to come back and haunt her, when she was dreaming and also when she was awake, always there to remind her of one of the many things she lost to the Mountain besides her battered innocence, a huge part of her soul already incomplete and her peace of mind and spirit which she didn't have for quite some time anyway.

She had been so angry at Lexa and her betrayal but more than that, she had been hurt by it and by her. She blamed Lexa for what she did, unfairly so. But it was the only way she found to not drown in guilt every single second of every single day and that is also because she knew that Lexa would let her.

She would have let Clarke blame her if it meant the blonde would spare herself from the crushing weight of the guilt she carried and that was what Lexa did when Clarke threatened her with the knife and instead of attacking her back, she let her go back to her people despite the dangers it could pose to her own position and her Coalition. Go back to her mom, to her people, if it could mean she would feel better. That is how selfless Lexa was beneath the tough façade she wore of the Commander.

Seeing Lexa fight with Roan and worrying about her safety was an eye opener for Clarke about the state and depths of her feelings regarding the Commander. Like, she was ready to kill the Ice Queen just so she could stop the fight from happening, could keep Lexa from danger but she wasn't able to thanks to the Queen's bodyguard, if you could call Ontari that, saw right through it and stopped her though Lexa won either way and beautifully so as she punished and killed the real culprit and made Roan the new King.

That night, until this day, Clarke has no idea how she was able to resist the urge to jump on Lexa and make love to her or why she resisted at all. That black nightgown did nothing to help her reel back from her desires but she found the strength to do so anyway. But now, looking back at it, Clarke shouldn't have resisted.

She should have let it happen, she should have just asked Lexa to stop when she was about to leave, walked up to her, closed the door and claimed the brunette's lips and let herself fall into the steady and waiting arms of the woman she loved, at least she would have had more memories with her than just the last one. After that night which nothing of the sort happened, Clarke could feel herself entertaining the idea of letting Lexa inside her heart again, more and more so since the next day they even flirted a little on the way to Arkadia.

But when she was finally ready to start opening up to her, Pike and Bellamy screwed up big time. Yes, Bellamy screwed up royally, now that she is about to die, Clarke could let herself be angry at him as she reaches the top of the tower and start working the way Raven instructed her to. Clarke had lost her father thanks to her mother, her… whatever Finn was, was murdered by her in an act of mercy, her love shot and killed by the hands of someone who was supposed to protect her.

Yet all she did after all of those losses and in spite of the excruciating pain she felt every single time was continuing to work towards saving everyone and keeping the peace between both people and keeping her people safe. He loses his girlfriend, tragically and meaninglessly yes, but what part of it makes it suddenly okay to massacre more than 300 innocent people just because you are hurting? What in the name of hell was he thinking letting Pike convince him of that? What was he thinking by agreeing to such cruelty? What was he thinking?

The answer is he wasn't thinking at all past his pain which was such a Bellamy thing to do. Raven had been right when she said that people usually paid the price for his decisions. The 300 people on the Ark who sacrificed themselves for more air for the others to survive did so because he destroyed the radio because he was afraid for his ass once the rest of the Ark got down and he was accused of killing Jaha.

The grounder army who Lexa said she would send to protect the Sky People, **protect** , which was something she said she would do right in front of him and Pike when they stormed the summit after learning of the attack ended up being victims of a pointless and cruel slaughter. He was someone she cared about deeply, one of her best friends and someone she needed by her side but she couldn't be blind to his many mistakes anymore.

Which is why when they talked, she tried to advise him to start thinking before acting. It's the reason why she was the brain between them and he was the heart. She would think of the bigger picture, of the consequences, of what would help them the most while he inspired people and did what she asked. When she left, he crumbled and let a maniac take over and destroy whatever was left of she had built with the grounders through blood and sweat. Now, up in space and without her, he needed to start thinking too. To start worrying about all the things it had been her responsibility to think about until now.

With Raven by his side, Clarke had a little bit more of faith that he could learn to do it. Not a lot more, just a little bit, she hoped enough. She looked down at the watch of her wrist and see that her ten minutes are up. They should start launching the rocket right about now, as Raven said that any later and they wouldn't be able to fly at all, given the radioactive power of the death wave that Clarke could almost feel getting closer and closer. Like a predator that has its prey trapped with no place to escape to, no way to survive it. Deadly and silent. What a combination.

She continued to work on the antenna as she heard it before she saw it. They did it. They were launching the rocket without her. She followed it with her vision while sending a silent 'well done, Bellamy' along with it before she turned her attention back to her task. These past couple of days had been tiring and stressful to say the very least and now that she thinks about it, Clarke can recognize that her little stunt with the bunker and getting her people in though well intentioned, trying to save the human race and all, was shameful and completely uncalled for. She, who preached about equality to Roan that same day, backstabbed everyone and kept the bunker for her people. Hypocrite.

Thing is she was so desperate to make sure that Luna didn't get her wish of seeing everyone dead that she came up with that idea, that needless to say Jaha loved it, to put it mildly. She was so afraid and fear makes you do stupid things. If she could, she would apologize to Lexa, who she knew would never have done what she did but instead would have found a common ground for everyone to share the bunker, much like Octavia did. She can admit she was a complete asshole but what is done is done.

Meanwhile, she finally got the antenna to work and was relieved to know that Raven could work out the rest. She then looked to her right and could see the death wave coming her way, so she started to come down the tower as fast as she could while hoping that the suit would hold at least until she got to the lab. She finally managed to get down and started running away from the deadly cloud as fast as she could since it was quite a way to the lab.

She continued running through a part of the forest but just as she was coming out of it, her foot got caught on a fallen branch of a tree and she fell to the ground. The first thing she noticed which was in her line of sight was the big hole in the helmet, she tried covering it with her hand and tried to stand up but she felt a sharp pain on her ankle and she knew she had sprained it and running was not an option anymore.

She fell down on the ground and immediately realized that it was the end of the line for her. This was it. She let her hand fall from the hole on the helmet, closed her eyes and imagined Lexa's face as the sunrays hit her olive skin while they were in bed and that was the last thing she remembers thinking before a strong light blinded her.

Where am I? Is this heaven? Hell? The afterlife? There is one? Where the hell was she? All she could see or not see was the bright light while her thoughts filled with questions left unanswered. That is until her vision started clearing little by little like she was beginning to see things in focus more now than she was before.

That went on until her vision was fully back, then she looked around her and it looked like she was in a white room, which reminded her of the white of Mount Weather's Quarantine rooms. She then looked down at herself and she was dressed in what seemed like her outfit from when she came down to the ground and the one she used in the City of Light.

She stood up and took a full turn looking around for a door but there was no door, nothing she could find which left her confused about exactly where she was. Just as she though that, beside her on her left side a video started playing and it was the video of her 15th birthday, that she spent alone with her dad because her mother had a pretty big surgery that day. They had so much fun, Clarke almost didn't remember that anymore. In front of her the video of getting arrested and her father being floated play out and her heart clenched at the scene again as she felt tears starting to form on her eyes.

To the right side, the video of her night with Finn started playing, a moment which she regretted and didn't regret it simultaneously. She didn't regret it because it was her first time and she liked him and it was a beautiful experience despite everything that came after, rushed and sloppy but beautiful. She regretted it because of the pain it caused Raven to find out that the boyfriend she risked her life coming down to Earth for hadn't waited 10 days before going to bed with another girl. She, being the girl in question. She wishes she hadn't hurt Raven like that.

Behind her, it's the video of her talk with Bellamy by the ocean as they waited for Luna's people. It was a beautiful memory she had, they had been honest and vulnerable with each other understanding what the other was going through and offering support. That is the moment where she believes or at least likes to believe that she got through to him like she couldn't do it during that fateful encounter on Arkadia which ended up with handcuffs being used on her wrists.

To her front, the moment she and Lexa had in the latter's tent before the battle with Mount Weather, where they shared their first kiss which was the moment Clarke knew she was falling in love, deeply. The intensity of her feelings for the girl she barely knew yet knew so much about, Finn's recent death on top of the upcoming battle being what contributed for her to find the strength to pull back and stop the kiss when what her heart wanted was for her to keep going and let herself live a little and enjoy what was happening to her.

Slowly the walls started filling themselves with video after video of things she lived through before and after coming down to Earth, her first day at school, killing Atom, closing the dropship door, fighting the panther, laughing at the floating prank on Jaha and all she could do was watch them pile up one after the other and so on while she continued to understand nothing of what was going on in this place. Was she dead? Dreaming? Hallucinating? Is this real? Where was she?

"None of the above, Clarke and I assure you this is very real." Said a voice from behind her, one voice that she recognized instantly which made her freeze a little before she turned to face this intruder and be shocked by seeing her again. "Becca?" she asked as she saw the woman smile at her. "Hello Clarke, it is nice to see you again." She said politely in that husky tone of hers. She was wearing her commander outfit, the one Titus gave Clarke before she left Polis.

"What the hell is going on? Why are you here? Where the hell am I?" she asked and Becca smiled, the questions being exactly what she expected from the blonde girl. "For the question number one, a lot is going on, Clarke but it will all be explained quite soon. Question number two, I am here to be your guide through this experience and as for question number three, I am proud to welcome you to the Valley of Time."

* * *

 **Author's note:** Hey guys, it's been a long time for those who accompany my work and for the newbies hello. I thought of the story at the end of last year and started writing it and finally finished the first part of it and decided to share it with you guys.

I know a lot of you might be wondering what about my other stories, will I continue them or not? The answer is I will continue them but only after I finish this one.  
Truth is i have a bad habit of start a story and not finish it which dissapoints a lot of you as well as myself so I made a promise to only post a story after I have finished it which is the case with this one.  
As for the other stories, I reread them and didnt like them anymore. the writing was sloppy, the plot very weak and the chapters completely boring so I decided to rewrite them and from the experience I am gaining from making this story make it so that i can present to you the best work possible.  
I hope you guys can understand and can give this story a go. I like it very much and I think is my best work so far and is finished at least the first part of it so please give it a chance. I enjoy your comments so please leave them below. I hope you cna forgive me and enjoy this work. Here is the first chapter, Praimfaya.


	2. Valley of Time

Valley of Time

"The who of what now?" Clarke asked completely unaware of what was going on and Becca smiled at the confusion she could clearly see etched in Clarke's face, she even chuckled. "The Valley of Time, Clarke. Do not worry, I will explain everything to you, unless you are feeling tired for which we can provide you somewhere to sleep." She said but the girl shook her head firmly and continuously.

There was not a tired bone in her body at this very moment, what she need wasn't to sleep, what she needed were answers and she would get them now. "Thanks but no thanks, I'm good. Now, what the hell is this place?" she said and Becca nodded. "Very well, I'll start explaining where we are." She snapped her fingers and the constricting walls disappeared yet the videos remained playing only now, the space got much bigger and wider, resembling a hall.

"The Valley of Time is exactly what the name suggests it is. This is the place where we can see the past we have lived or could have lived as well as our present and future given the different directions our lives could have taken based on each decisive moment we went through and the choices when faced with it." She said as they started walking while she explained. Clarke nodded following her still not sure she understood what was going on.

"The Valley is the place where time as you know, doesn't exist. Here we are neither in the past, the present of the future, time here doesn't pass but in here, we can see everything. Look." Becca said pointing to a video where it shows Clarke and Roan when she was his prisoner on their way back to Polis. "That is a memory of a future that can or cannot possibility because you could have chosen to stay in Arkadia after the Mountain, so that would never have happened. Can you understand what I am saying?" Becca asked and Clarke nodded. "A little, I guess. So what you are saying is that there are multiple ME's in different times living the same life over and over again?" she asked as she tried to wrap her head around this information.

"Not exactly. There are not multiple you's living the same life but rather, there is one you that can live a different life based on different outcomes. There can be a Clarke that never heard her father's secret, therefore was never in the Skybox and wasn't sent to Earth and never experienced everything this you experienced but that Clarke would still be you. Can you understand better now?" Becca explained and Clarke nodded. "So this is a place where you can see all of the outcomes of any choice I make? Like if I hadn't heard my Dad and tried to help him, what my would have been like then?" She asked and Becca smiled.

"Yes, that is right." Becca said and Clarke nodded before she looked confused again. "Why am I here then? Is this place where everyone that dies goes to? Or am I just passing through?" She asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer. "So you acknowledge that you are dead?" the older but still very beautiful woman asked and the blonde nodded. "Yes, I know I died. The death wave, I couldn't escape it. So?" she said and urged Becca to return to the point in question since she wasn't trying to dwell too much on her own demise to miss what was important. Finding out why she was here.

"I will get to that now. You see, Clarke, in general, the ones who control this place which I call the Powers That Be…" Becca said before Clarke interrupted. "The Powers That Be?" She asked and Becca smiled. "It's a reference to one of my favorite shows rom the late 90's, you know what? Don't mind me." She said before continuing. "Anyway, The Powers usually don't interfere with the choices and the outcomes, after all, we are humans and we do have free-will but every once in a while, the outcome of an event or a choice becomes so dire for everyone that they feel the need to interfere and change it." She explained.

"The outcome of your current life had suffered an enormous and unwanted change from the desirable timeline the Powers That Be had expected it to follow and because of that, because they want their plans for that particular life restored, you will be given a second chance to change the outcome of it all." Becca explained but Clarke was still feeling confused. "Why me?" she asked and Becca smiled. "Because you are an essential part of the equation that will guarantee a better future for everyone." She said and Clarke was more confused than before.

"You see, Clarke. You and Lexa, together and only together, can bring peace and prosperity to the people. Her death is what set in motion a lot of the unfortunate events that followed, exactly because of her importance along with yours to shape the world as we know." Becca explained. "Wait, so you are saying that the fate of the world was in our hands? Mine and Lexa's?" she asked and Becca nodded. "Have you ever wondered why you were always so fascinated with Earth? Why you always felt a sense of peace when you looked at it from the window on the Ark? It's because your soul was recognizing where her soul was." Becca said and Clarke stopped walking and so did she.

"Are you trying to tell me that Lexa and I are soul mates?" she asked. She was not clueless about the concept of soul mates, her father had read to her a lot on the topic when she was young since he believed in it and they would talk about it, she would tell him that she wished she could meet hers and he would promise her she would one day. Has she? "Yes, you are, Clarke. Yours and Lexa's love for each other is going to be the bridge between the people as well as the fuel needed on the hard task of cementing an everlasting peace, something no Commander before, truthfully no one had ever been close on achieving it." Becca said.

"Well, I know she is the love of my life but I never thought our love ran deeper than that." She said and it was the truth. She hadn't considered the possibility that this was not the first time they had met and fell in love but now that she thinks about it, she realized how blind she was not to see it. It did felt that way whenever they were together, it explains how within so little time, they managed to know almost everything about each other. How she could see past all of Lexa's walls and how the brunette could understand her much better than she could understand herself.

How they seemed to know exactly where to touch the other without any knowledge on the other's body, how connected they felt since the first time they met, why the betrayal on the Mountain hurt so badly and why Clarke had forgiven for it even if she held onto the anger for longer than that. Suddenly, it all made sense now, it was not their first time meeting each other or loving each other, they had done it before, many times. Becca watched as Clarke finally understood a very important piece of this puzzle she is about to understand better.

"How many?" Clarke asked and Becca was confused about her question so Clarke asked again, more elaborately this time. "How many lives have we lived together before this one?" she asked and Becca smiled. "107 lives including this one." Clarke took in a deep breath and closed her eyes as she digested the information, which was huge. "It is a lot to take in all at once, I understand how confused you must be feeling right now." Becca said and Clarke looked at her. "Understatement of the century." She said and she waited for her head to stop spinning.

"Together, you and Lexa can change the world. Her death was an undesirable outcome of an ill-made choice. If you ask me, I never trusted Titus to begin with. He was always so close minded to anything other than what he believed to be the truth, my truth, that he took extreme measures to make sure Lexa stayed on the path he wanted for her, never caring about the path she wanted to pave for herself and her people. He was the one responsible for Costia's capture, you know?" Becca said as she resumed walking with Clarke by her side.

"What?!" Clarke asked. Titus was responsible for the loss of Lexa's first love? "Exactly what you heard. He didn't exactly help the assassins capture her but he facilitated their entry in the tower as well as gave them the information on Lexa's whereabouts so they could strike while she was away. Of the two motives he had for this cruelty, he only accomplished one. To get Lexa to close herself off from other people, that was until you showed up. And the other motive was to wipe out the Ice Nation however..." Becca was saying but Clarke finished for her. "Lexa didn't attack then, instead she let them into her Coalition." She said. Becca nodded.

"I just want to make perfectly clear to you that I had nothing to do with the teachings that love is weakness and that to be Commander is to be alone. It's precisely the opposite. Love is strength and the last thing a Commander needs is to be alone. That was the work of Panis. The 18th Commander. He was a ruthless and lonely man who refused to listen my warning and instructions and perpetuated those ideas onto his nightbloods and the Flame keeper of his time who passed down that knowledge to the next and the next until Titus." She explained and Clarke nodded.

"I didn't like him from the beginning either, something about him seemed wrong and I always felt a little tingling sensation of danger whenever he was near her as if I knew she wasn't safe with him and I was right." She said, if only she had known he would do what he did, she would have plotted to kill him instead of Nia, at least on a more urgent level. "I have to say it. Lexa is the most exceptional nightblood I have ever seen. I watched her from the moment she came to Polis when she was just a little baby till the moment of her last breath as I did with many others but she was the only one that I knew from early on that would be a great Commander and she exceeded my expectations by a lot. Like you said to Luna, she was special." Becca said and Clarke nodded.

"Can I ask you something?" Clarke said and Becca nodded her head with a small smile on her face. "Anything. Go ahead." She said. "How much influence on her did the Flame actually had? I mean to what extent was the Flame and to what extent was really Lexa?" she asked the same thing she questioned Raven who assured that Lexa was Lexa, however she wanted to hear an explanation directly from the creator of the artificial intelligence. Becca smiled. "I understand your curiosity and it will be my pleasure to explain it to you." She said to which Clarke nodded.

"The Flame as we call it now is designed to merge with its host on a biological level, it's why the incision is on the cervical chord, so that it can connect to the brain. I designed that way so that the artificial part could have a better understanding of what means to be human since it would be connect to the host mind but would be under his or hers control. So to answer your question, The Flame only helped enhance what Lexa could do, it didn't affect in the least who she was, her essence, it couldn't." Becca said.

"There is no code that could be invented that could understand or duplicate a human soul. It is why the people who took ALIE's ship would slowly lose what made them human, which is their emotions, their memories. She couldn't understand it, or control it so she sought out to get rid of it. The Flame was designed as the opposite of ALIE, it could understand emotions better, it didn't fear it and I guarantee you, Lexa without the Flame was exactly the Lexa you knew, except with less burdens and responsibility but everything, that was her." Becca explained and Clarke relaxed hearing that.

"So her feelings and everything else was all her?" she asked to be sure and Becca nodded. "She loved you because you made her love you, not the Flame." The woman said and she smiled. It had been a fear of her that some things of what they lived might have not been real to Lexa or she only did because of the Flame but to know everything was real between them, it relieved her mind of a lot. But then, she got serious again. "You said it enhanced what she could do, what do you mean by that?" She asked Becca.

"Like I said to you before, Lexa was special to me so I revealed a little secret to her that I kept from all the others. The technology of the Flame could alter the host's capacities, physical capabilities. You see, I couldn't let bloodthirsty Commanders know that they could have more power, more strength if they knew how to activate it, there would have no one left on Earth but I told Lexa because I knew she would use this feature wisely and in a responsible way and she did." Becca said as they continued walking through the seemingly never ending hall.

"The feature I am talking about is call Amplifier. It does exactly what the name suggest, it amplifies certain abilities, strength being one of them. Despite her small size, Lexa was stronger than her strongest warrior if she wanted to. All of her senses, vision, hearing, smelling, it could go beyond what others human would be capable of. She could for an instance hear what people were saying even if they were a couple of miles away. She used that particular ability to find you when you went missing. She searched your voice everyday so she could keep track of you to know you were safe."

"She was always a very good tracker but with the Amplifier, she could smell even the faintest of scents. That is how she found you when you were being attacked by Quint. With her vision, she could enhance it so to see the tiniest details and a particular favorite of mine, she could see it in the dark but even with that feature, she still had a fear of the dark hence why she had so many candles around." Becca said smiling and Clarke did as well. "She practically lived in one huge candle." Clarke said and they both laughed.

"As for her intelligence, even without the Flame, in my time, Lexa would have been considered a genius. She is incredibly smart, always was. When she was young and a nightblood, she and Luna would sit down along with Luna's brother and she would point out all the mistakes on the Commander's decision and would tell them what was the better option and she was right 99% of time. She was a child though, still had some things to learn. So the Flame never had to enhance it much on that front. There are other abilities that could be enhanced but you already understand it so there is no need to explain it further." Becca explained and Clarke nodded while digesting everything she just learned.

"Becca, what am I doing here? Really?" Clarke asked, she was dying to know, no pun intended. She needed to understand what the hell she was doing in this Valley learning all these new information. There must be a reason for all of this and she needed to know what it is and she needed to know right now. Becca must have sensed her desire because she smiled. "The reason why you are here is very simple, Clarke." She said while the blonde girl waited for it however from the many possible reasons she could think of, none came close to:

"We want you to travel back in time."


	3. Mission Assignment

Mission assignment

"Can you say that again? You want me to what?" Clarke asked not quite sure she heard right and Becca smiled at the blonde girl's reaction, she wasn't expecting anything less, it is quite a shock. "We want you to travel back in time though it might be slightly different that you would imagine." She said and Clarke looked at her confusedly. "What exactly am I supposed to do then? I don't understand anything, Becca." Clarke pleaded and the woman nodded understanding her. "I know, do not worry, I will explain everything to you right now." She said as Clarke nodded.

"You are going to travel back in time but not physically. We will, in a way, download your mind of now into your own body of a certain moment in time where we think will the best one for the changes we want you to make. More like changes we need you to make." She said and Clarke looked at her. "Can they do that?" she asked in awe and Becca smiled. "Of course they can. There are certain events you must prevent from happening Clarke, Lexa's death being the most important one to avoid at all costs." She said as Clarke took some time to think this over.

If she did this, she could stop a lot of bad things from ever happening, she could save a lot of people. However, she remembered that the death wave would come and started to wonder if it wasn't pointless to go through all this trouble for nothing and she said so to Becca. "What does it matter if we will die when the death wave comes anyway?" she said and Becca shook her head. "It matters Clarke because the death wave and the destruction of the nuclear power plants can be avoided." She said and Clarke was staring at her in complete shock. "What do you mean it can be avoided?" she asked.

"When A.L.I.E stole the launching codes for the missiles that destroyed our planet, she didn't have access to all of them just the ones she was able to hack into it. The other ones I managed to hid from her, the codes were on the things brought down with me in the pod from the Polaris Station you found on Polis. When Jaha and A.L.I.E took control of the city, my pod was one of the first things she had him looking for, of course she didn't tell him for what she wanted it but it was those codes she was looking for. Her plan was to set them off so people could only live in the City of Light." She explained.

"She downloaded herself into them and gained the access to it that she didn't have the last time she tried to destroy the world, I believe your friend Murphy took too long to destroy her when he had the chance so as soon as she was in, she activate the meltdown of the power plants that were left so that even if he or you tried to destroy her at least she would have finished what she started it all those years ago. So you see Clarke, if you can get to those codes, you can stop this apocalypse from happening in the first place." Becca explained and Clarke was beyond stunned. It was A.L.I.E's fault, all those deaths, she caused it.

"You screwed up the whole world by creating that thing, you know that right?" she said angrily and the older woman nodded regretfully. "Believe me, I know the monster I created it and I will forever live in shame and remorse for all the disaster and pain she caused to the planet and human kind but you once again can right that wrong and save many more people from her crutches if you agree to go on this trip. You have a choice to make Clarke, no one will force you but if you do say yes to it, you must compromise to go all the way." She said and let Clarke digest her words a little and think on what she wanted to do.

Thing is there wasn't much to think about. She had to do it, for everyone she could save, including Lexa and for a better future for everyone, to save the planet for a second destruction, she had to do it. She knew her answer. "I'm in." she said firmly and Becca looked at her. "Are you sure about this? There is no turning back if you accept it." She said but Clarke was firm on her decision. "Where do I begin?" she said and Becca could feel her determination and smiled. They were doing this.

"Very well, first I will explain a few things to you if you will follow me." She said and snapped her fingers and a door suddenly appeared in front of them which still surprised Clarke despite the knowledge that she seemed to be in a place where everything was possible. Becca entered and Clarke followed her and walked through the door and they seemed to be in a room, it looked like it was a normal room, all white but there were two chairs and a desk and monitors like the ones that showed her the videos of her life before. They sat down opposite of each other and Becca stared at her before she started speaking.

"First thing you need to know and I need you to remember this at all times: there are certain things you cannot, under any circumstance, change it. We call them markers, there are fixed points in time that must happen, the disobedience of this rule can cause Lexa to die and the outcomes to be even worse than the ones who you already live through and then all of this would be pointless so you need to steer clear of certain events despite your desire to change them. I will tell you which later." Clarke nodded signaling for her to continue.

"Second thing, we understand that making those changes all by yourself would be extremely difficult, especially since you can't tell anyone of this, so we are allowing you a chance to choose 4 people to also remember this timeline however unlike you who will remember it from the beginning, they will only do so if their memories get triggered by you saying a password or passphrase that is of significance for them and you in this timeline, only then will they remember. I need you to choose them now so we can start the process of retrieving their memories self." She explained and Clarke nodded as she thought about it though the first person was the easiest one.

"The first one I want is Lexa, I want her to remember everything, especially us." She said and Becca smiled. "As I expected it. Lexa's memories will be triggered once you say the phrase 'Life is about more than just surviving.' It is a special phrase to her and you. It was something that gave her hope for what her future had reserved for her and that maybe you could be a part of that future that involved happiness, peace and love instead of hate, death and war. Once you say this to her, she will remember everything including what happened in the City of Light." Becca explained and Clarke could feel the tears forming once she heard the passphrase.

"It was the last thing she said to me before she died." She said sadly and Becca nodded. "I know." She gave Clarke some time for herself. The girl shook her head and reminded her that she had a second chance and that she won't let anything happen to the brunette so she let her mind go back to the task at hand. She thinks a little more and choose the next 2 people. "Next I choose Raven and Kane. Raven has a deep knowledge of A.L.I.E and engineering aside from being my best friend, I need her to help me. And Kane share my views on the grounders and that we must achieve peace with them, he can help us built a better future for both of our people, especially if he is in charge." She explained and Becca nodded.

"Wise choices. For Raven, the password is cripple. Raven's distaste and fear of being one along with the pain her leg caused her was one of the most important reasons behind what motivated her into taking the chip and joining Jaha and A.L.I.E. Without Raven on their side, there was not much chance for them to win. For Kane, the password will be redemption. Causing the massacre of sector 17 changed him and his perceptions which motivated him to seek redemption by doing whatever he could to find peace between all of your own people and then between the Sky People and the other clans." Clarke nodded in agreement.

She then thought a little more on the last person to choose, she could choose Bellamy or her mom or Octavia or Finn and maybe they could help her but the more she thought about it, the less each one of them seemed like a smart choice, they had too many ghost and in the end might not be the help she need so the more she thought, frankly only one person felt right for her. "The last person I want is… Murphy." She said decidedly and Becca was shocked, to say the least and let that shock show on her face which made Clarke smile. "John Murphy?" she asked to make sure and Clarke nodded.

"Well, there is a lot I need to redeem myself in regards to him and everything wrong I did to him. I accused him of killing Wells when he was innocent, banished him for Charlotte's suicide when he was also not responsible for it, not the way Bellamy and I judged him to be, blamed him for not stopping Finn when Finn was a grown person who made his own choices, tried to kill his girlfriend which is something I am deeply ashamed for it. There is a lot I need to atone for with him besides he is more useful and resourceful than we gave him credit for. He saved my life a few times and I owe him." She explained and Becca nodded.

"Very well, Murphy's password will be forgiveness. Like you said there is a lot of need for that between the two of you as well as between him and Raven and a lot of other people so it seems only fair and appropriate that he gets it as his password, don't you think?" she asked and Clarke nodded. He wasn't a saint either, he was vindictive and was very selfish and a bully in the beginning of their time on Earth but something told her that there was more good to him than they, and even himself, believed to be in his heart, maybe she could help him uncover that as well. "I do." She said and she was determined to help him be a better person.

"To be honest, I expected you to choose Bellamy or even Finn, not Murphy." Becca said and she sighed, slumping back against the chair as she thought about the two boys who meant a lot to her in different ways and who she hurt and was hurt by in return. "To be honest, I didn't choose them mostly for a selfish reason. I want to clean the slate with the two of them, start anew and in a better way and I don't want them to remember the people they turned out to be nor the horrible crimes they committed. I want them to have a second chance to be better people than they became." She explained.

"With Finn, I want to avoid any romantic thing that went on between us before, it won't be hard because I love Lexa with all my heart and she is the only one I want. I don't want to be the cause of Raven's pain in regards to that, I felt terrible about it and I still do and maybe he won't go as crazy as he did before, something I also wish to avoid. If he remembered, he would be filled with guilt, horror and despite what he did to those villagers, he is a good person maybe we can reach him before the monster inside comes out." She said. Becca nodded.

"As for Bellamy, I was too lenient with him for all the stupid things he did, destroying the radio and so on, I want to change that. I can't be blind to the fact that his choice of acting set in motion Lexa's death. Maybe Titus would have tried to kill me anyway, maybe not. But his rush on doing it and the fact that I had to leave Lexa, it all comes back to the moment he let Pike take control of the weapons and helped make him Chancellor. I will try to have a better relationship with him than we had before and help him see things in a better way than he did. He also needs to drop on the grounder hate, it is not good for anyone and if he remembered it, I would have another problem at hand and I don't need it. So with their minds clean, I can maybe point them both in the right direction." She said and Becca nodded once again.

"You are very wise, Clarke. No wonder people choose you as their leader as well as Lexa choose you too." She said and the girl smiled while blushing a little. "Okay, the third instruction and it is my favorite one is that we will teach a few things you need to know if you want to pull this off: basic fighting skills, fluency on Trigedasleng, skill on archery, understanding of the ground and the clans, the game of politics, how to safely defeat Mount Weather, etc. It will be like a class you had on the Ark so that when you go back you will be more prepared. Alright?" she said and Clarke nodded.

"It would be very helpful, no doubt. I was vastly unprepared for what the ground had to offer and even more so on how to be a leader, a good one. I was simply someone who had ideas on how to keep everyone alive and got to make the tough choices but I don't think I was a good leader." She said and it was the truth. How can you expect a 17 almost 18 year old girl who never set foot on the ground before, never even seen it to master what it meant to be on the ground? And if she was to rule by Lexa's side, she would need to be more prepared and now she would be.

She couldn't wait to start.


	4. Training

Training

After her talk with Becca, Clarke was assigned a room, which was a scratch. Whatever this Valley of Time was, it certainly knew how to provide her with the best. Her room was marvelous, it had a huge bed that she almost got lost inside it. It had a desk and a shelf with lots of books that she hadn't seen before, most of them were on geography, medicinal plants, anatomy, vegetation, politics and a few more relevant topics as well as a few other ones that she judged Becca thought she would like to read. She also had a bathroom with running water, cold and warm, her choosing as well as a bathtub and she had no idea how this place pulled it off, she didn't know if this was a real place or if she was delirious.

The room looked a lot like the one in the island where there was Becca's lab they were working on so she was kind of used to it. Her routine was physical training in the morning, done by Becca herself with the occasional help from a few of the past Commanders who were more than happy to beat her up which in contrast pushed her to do better, mental training in the afternoon and time to rest at night, at least that was how she sorted it out though time there passed it differently so she judged she has been here for quite some time. One of the first things she asked Becca was that since only her mind would return, why train? Becca explained that although her body would be different as long as she had the knowledge and commanded it to do it, it would. Muscle memory or something like that.

So Clarke delved into training like she never done before, Becca was pretty good and was always pushing her past what she believed to be her physical and mental limit. Needless to say, archery was her favorite part of training and Becca agreed that she was an excellent archer, as soon as she was able to shoot all arrows straight in the bull's eyes, Becca pushed her forward. She started to fight and shoot at the same time, it took her more than a few beatings to get it right, and the wounds were always healed by the next session. She also learned how to hunt and throw knives. Hand to hand combat and such, she was a little bit more than okay. She was better than Octavia, that she knew for sure.

One day, she even joked she could beat Lexa and Becca smiled, then she revealed to Clarke that her knowledge of fighting, archery and such, Lexa achieved it before her 8th birthday, Clarke then asked while did Luna sound so confident that if she had stayed she would have won the conclave and Becca explained, that Lexa never went to fight the other novitiates using 100% of what she could do, she would hold back at least about 50%, Clarke asked why and Becca explained that Lexa had always been a prodigy, it was easy for her to master things so if she were to use her full potential, she would be a killing machine and that is something she never wanted to be.

Once again Clarke was in awe of the woman she fell in love with and a little sad she didn't have the time to find that out from Lexa herself and had to rely on what Becca knew of the brunette. Becca then went on to tell her that Lexa trained every day at least for 5 hours in between her duties as Commander and Clarke's admiration for her just grew. Her training continued and finally Becca deemed her ready and so today, finally she was going to learn which events she can't change. She wasn't looking forward to this one but Becca said it was needed so she can make a plan of action of what to do once she goes back.

Becca entered the room where there was the monitors so they could watch and talk. Becca sat down and smiled encouragingly at her. "Are you ready?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "Yes, I think so." She answered warily and Becca nodded, understanding why she was feeling that way. "Let's start then. First thing you need to know is when I am sending you back to. You will be going back to a week before you found out about the oxygen failure and the first event we want you to change is to stop your father from making that video and getting floated." She said and Clarke's mouth was open and she felt the tears start to form in her eyes.

"I get to save my dad?" she asked shakily, not wanting to let herself believe that she would have that chance and Becca nodded. "Although I have no doubt of Raven's abilities as n mechanic and at times, engineer, your father is essential to making the future what we want it to be so you will be able to save him, yes." She said and Clarke let the tears fall as she thanked Becca over and over again. Her father's death broke something inside of her and to know that she will have a chance at saving him and having him alive by her side is more than she could have asked for. "Are you ready to continue?" Becca asked softly and Clarke nodded drying her tears. "Yes, please continue." She said and paid attention again.

"Okay, since your father won't be arrested, neither will you which means you will not spend a year in solitary however before the mission to send the kids is sanctioned, which it will, you will need to find a way to get arrested and get into the dropship so you can come down with them once again." Becca said and Clarke nodded. "That is very easy to do. I just need to time it perfectly." She said. "Exactly. I am assuming your father will be quite beside himself if he learns about it so you will need to convince him to stay out of trouble and to let you go. Can you do that?" she said and Clarke nodded.

"Very well, what you can't change that I know you will want to is Octavia's arrest and her mother's death." Becca said and Clarke was beyond herself. "What do you mean I can't change that?" She wanted to. "Because the outcome of changing that is bad. If Octavia never gets caught, her mother, brother and herself, they will all die in the landing. The only way for Bellamy and Octavia to survive is if things happen the same way they did on your time which means that Aurora cannot be saved and Octavia must be sent to the Sky Box." Becca said and Clarke sighed. She was not liking this already.

"That is not fair, Becca. Bellamy and Octavia were very hurt about losing their mom and it is one of the reasons why Bellamy shot Jaha and convinced the kids to get rid of their wristbands." She said and Becca nodded. "Hardly anything is fair in life, Clarke. That is a lesson you must never forget." She said and Clarke nodded grimly. "Bellamy is an important ally for you to have by your side on Earth and Octavia will be the first one to create a bond with a grounder, Lincoln, as well as becoming one badass warrior, their importance is remarkable. Their mother's death is a marker, I am afraid." Becca said and Clarke nodded. "I don't like it but I understand it. So without changing that, Bellamy will still shoot Jaha." She said and Becca shook her head. "Not necessarily. Jaha's shooting is not a marker so it may not happen. It will be up to Bellamy to choose whether to do it or not." She said.

"But if he does, it will lead him to wanting the wristbands off and that it is something you must stop from happening. Losing contact on the landing will be bad enough without a way to let the Ark know you are alive, it will get bad as you know, and that way, sector 17 will not have a need to be sacrificed and you can save those lives." Becca said and Clarke nodded. "What is next?" she asked and Becca smirked. "Like you said it before, staying away from Finn romantically may be a good option. Regardless of the signal from the wristbands, Raven will want to come down anyway which leads me to advising you to get to her before Bellamy does this time." Becca said and Clarke nodded.

"I wanted to wait until that precise moment to trigger her memory so that not too much will be changed in regards to that. What do you think?" she asked and Becca nodded smiling at her. "That is a good idea. Maybe if she remembered before she could try to change something and since no one else has this knowledge, they could screw things up without knowing. Any more plans on when to trigger the others?" Becca asked and Clarke explained to her when she intended to do it. Becca nodded. "Very well thought, Clarke. I see that studying strategy has helped you in this." She said and Clarke nodded. "It has, very much so." She said truthfully.

"Well, another thing you can't change and this one will be very, very difficult for you. Jasper being hit with the spear." Clarke stood up from her seat fuming in anger. "No way, Becca. No way in hell I am going to let Jasper get hurt. He is my friend and I will save him. You are pushing it too far." She said angrily and walked away from the table and started pacing around the room mumbling something Becca could not understand as one of the walls the video of that particular memory started playing. The older woman only raised her hand and Clarke let her speak. "Remember the markers we talked about?" she said and Clarke nodded slowly.

"One of the 100 kids getting speared by the grounders is a time marker of great importance. If it isn't Jasper, it is going to be Monty, Finn, Nathan, Monroe or someone else because that needs to happen. It is your first interaction with survivors you didn't know existed and who can and want kill you. It will help unify you all as a group, instead of a band of inconsequential teenagers. The reason I think Jasper should be the one is because though traumatic, that event helped him find courage to stand up for himself later on. It is what helped him lead the rebellion inside Mount Weather. We need that change to happen to him." She said.

"Are you sure about that?" Clarke asked deflated and Becca nodded solemnly. "He will survive, just as he did before. You know how to get to him and the medicine he needs, he will be back to himself in no time." Becca said and Clarke sat down again. "I don't believe I will like any of these markers, will I?" she said and Becca smiled. "The majority, no but there are few I think you might. Let's continue. Another marker you are not going to like is Lincoln stabbing Finn." Clarke just sighed and held her hand in between her head as Becca continued to listing the markers and giving her advice on what to change.

And she was right, there were a few markers that Clarke was in favor of it but the rest, had her sighing and sighing over and over again. Once they were finished, they walked out of the room. "Becca, what is going on with the minds of the people I chose to help me?" Clarke asked. "They are going through similar process, though much less intense than yours. They also don't have the knowledge that you do on what needs to be changed and what not." She answered and Clarke held her arm. "Can I see her? Becca, please. I need to see her." Becca smiled. "Right now is not the best time, Clarke." She said but Clarke shook her head.

"I don't need much. I just need to see her, see that she is okay and talk to her. Please Becca, I have done everything you asked, trained in every way you instructed, read every book you gave me, I even accepted what I can't change despite my own wants on that subject, don't you think I deserve a little treat? Can't I at least have a few moments with the woman I love before we are separated for another year? Even A.L.I.E wouldn't be that cruel." She said and Becca smiled at the desperation and the love she could see in Clarke's eye for one moment with Lexa.

She wasn't planning on not letting that happen but she wanted to see how Clarke would respond to it and she didn't disappoint. "Okay, how about we make a deal? You continue your training as always and before we send you all back in time to start your mission, I will give you two a moment for yourselves. Deal?" she said and Clarke knew she couldn't get it better than this and any moment with Lexa would be worth it so she did the only thing she could and nodded. "Deal." And with that in mind, she started to get impatient for that moment to come.

Becca explained that it would take a while longer before everything was prepared since they had to send everyone at the same time and both Kane and Murphy were still finishing their training so Clarke continued hers on but especially with the reading part of it. She was able to get Becca to lend her a few novels from before the war and also a few movies, her favorite movie was a really old one called 'Ladyhawke'. It was the story a two lovers condemned by dark magic to be always together but forever apart. Something spoke to her about that movie, it was almost like she could see herself and Lexa in the characters position.

She would be Isabeau D'Anjou, who at sunrise becomes a beautiful Hawk who graces the sky and Lexa would be Captain Etienne Navarre, who at sunset turns into a majestic black wolf who runs commanding through the forest. It was almost poetic the thought of them as the characters of the movie, she came from the Sky and would be a hawk and Lexa, who came from the forest would be the wolf. She laughed as the movie ended until she heard a voice speak in a loving and firm way from behind her.

"I love you too, Clarke."


	5. Making it count

Making it count

Clarke didn't really know what she did after hearing that beautiful voice say those words. She didn't remember if she froze or turned around so quickly her neck almost broke, maybe it was both. All she knew for a fact was that standing right there before her was Lexa, dressed in what looked like a grey long sleeve shirt who was rolled up to her elbows, black pants and brown boots, with her hair at ease much like it was on their last moments together though it wasn't thrown to one side but rather fell on her shoulders and back, she looked so beautifully sexy, she most certainly took Clarke's breath away.

She had no idea how long she took admiring Lexa's body and face and pretty much everything she could have her eyes land upon and how long the brunette girl also just stood there admiring her, who had somewhat of a similar outfit though her shirt was short sleeved and indigo blue, with grey pants and no shoes, her hair was in a little bun but one thing Clarke was grateful was of being completely clean from head to toe this time along. She didn't know who moved first, most certainly her, but with 3 seconds, you couldn't tell where one started and the other ended.

Clarke wrapped her arms around Lexa's neck as the brunette wrapped hers around her waist and all they did was breathe each other in. Lexa smelled the same in this place as she did on Earth, soft pine trees and rain while Clarke smelled like jasmine, yellow plants with a wonderful smell that was thankfully very different from the filth she was in while they were both on Earth, she really couldn't have treated herself worse and poor Lexa, having to deal with it. Clarke had no idea how Lexa could still have found her attractive, had still wanted her in that way. She must have really be in love to overlook Clarke's personal hygiene the same way the blonde seemed to do.

Clarke held on tightly to the other girl, afraid that she wouldn't have her for very long, afraid that at any moment she would disappear from her side again and she dreaded that moment happening so she tighten the hug which made Lexa chuckle. "It's okay, Clarke. We have until tomorrow to be together." She said as if she knew exactly what Clarke had been thinking which wasn't all that surprising. Lexa always seemed to know her better and know exactly what she was thinking or feeling even before she knew it herself. Clarke released her breath that she was holding it in but didn't loosen the hug.

"I missed you so much." She said with a tremble in her voice from the tears and the sob she was trying to hold back and barely succeeding. Lexa nodded as she planted a kiss on the blonde's neck. "I missed you too. I am so sorry about everything that happened to you." She said and Clarke finally pulled back enough to look at those beautiful green eyes. It could sound cheesy because it probably was but Clarke, at this moment, really didn't think it existed a more beautiful and alive shade of green than the one of Lexa's eyes. "If this is the only moment we will have until we see each other again in a year, I don't want to waste talking about bad things." She said and Lexa smirked as she cradled Clarke's face on her hands.

"We don't have to talk at all." She said with a smirk on her face and Clarke immediately recognized her own phrase and the context which also brought a smirk to her own face before she did the only thing she could think of. She turned her smirk into a full out smile which Lexa returned before she crashed their lips together in a desperate kiss. Lexa wasted no time in returning the kiss with the same amount of desire, of need, of love that Clarke was putting into it. They both shared the feeling that they had been drowning for a quite a while and only now were they able to breathe. It was beautiful feeling.

Clarke didn't want to waste any time they had like she did it before so she lifted Lexa's shirt in over her head and threw it somewhere in the room, she didn't particularly cared where. On the other hand, Lexa did the same to her shirt but continued onto unbuttoning Clarke's pants and pulling it down, not forgetting to kiss her neck, the top of her breast and also caress her legs while she did it. Clarke was on fire, every single atom on her body was in synch with her heart as well as with the brunette's. Lexa then guided Clarke backwards, the blonde girl sat down while she unbuttoned the brunette's pants while kissing her abs, while Lexa had her fingers undo the messy bun letting the blonde hair fall free.

Once Lexa's pants and shoes were gone, Clarke started to pull herself up on the bed while Lexa crawled all the way until she was on top of her. Feeling their skin touching was sending Clarke into flames of a burning desire and a consuming love that she was sure she had never felt that way before, not even the last time they did it. Lexa kissed her neck and jaw, alternating between kisses and little bites that were turning Clarke on even more if that was even remotely possible. Clarke moved her hands to undo the clasp of Lexa's bra, tossing it away again, doing the same to her own, without Lexa stopping her ministrations but once that piece of fabric was away, she kissed her on the lips.

Clarke tangled her hand on Lexa's hair while titling her head to the side, in a better angle, to deepen the kiss, their tongues on a battle of their own before Lexa started trailing kisses down her neck then engulfed her left breast in her mouth and Clarke gasped from the pleasure. Lexa continued sucking and kissing even biting just enough for Clarke to moan in pleasure. Once she was satisfied, she moved to the other doing the same thing. Again, Clarke was moaning, a little loud. Then once Lexa was finished, she started her way down.

She pulled back a little and started kissing the inside of Clarke's thighs, making her moan a little louder. She then very smoothly removed the last piece of fabric Clarke had, which were her panties, and wasted no time before using her mouth down there. Clarke gasped the moment she felt the contact of Lexa's tongue and took her no time for the moans to get louder and form the sound of Lexa's name. When Lexa inserted one finger, Clarke gripped the sheets, then another finger. It was impressive really, even on their first time, Lexa found her spot on the first try.

To be honest, she had sex with Finn, it had been her first time and he tried his best, but he was a hormonal teenager, there wasn't much pleasure he gave her but she remember a few girls saying that the first time was like that anyway so she ruled out as being the way it was supposed to be, and given it was her first time it also ought to be painful and sloppy but she had enjoyed it and didn't regret it however she had to admit, Finn was lacking a lot in the pleasuring department.

In another note, with Niylah, she had sex with her a couple of times and it was nice, it wasn't mind blowing but it was better than with Finn, after all she definitely had more experience than him and at least seemed to know what she was doing and Clarke had more than enjoyed the experience. It was good, it was relaxing and it was pleasurable but still it was only physical contact. There were no emotions involved at all. Niylah was a good friend and that is all she has ever been. And sex with her was an improvement from the last experience, yes.

But sex with Lexa? It was out of this world and Clarke knew that from the first touch of her fingers at the back of her neck and her kisses. If she had thought Niylah was experienced and knew what she was doing, Lexa was an expert, every touch burning her with pleasure, every kiss consuming her mind, she also knew as if by instinct exactly where to touch Clarke and how to do it, almost as if she had always done it and for Clarke, it wasn't much different, she also knew exactly what, where and how to do it and needless to say, the pleasure was immeasurable and the sex, wow.

Soon enough, Clarke reached her climax while crying out Lexa's name while the girl cleaned her off before letting her taste herself on her mouth. Clarke was desperate to return the favor but Lexa had other things in mind. With just one hand, she removed her own underwear, tossing it aside and opened Clarke's legs, positioned herself in between them and started a thrusting motion driving Clarke into a state of ecstasy, she had her fingernails scrap Lexa's back which she knew drove the brunette crazy, in which case resulted in a faster pace.

She started rocking as well while Lexa buried her face on her neck, kissing, biting and licking it. They both reached climax at the same time, riding it out together as well and were left panting. Lexa let her weight fall a little on top of Clarke which the blonde loved it before she moved to side, pulled the blankets up to cover them and pulled Clarke to her arms. The blonde lay her head on her chest right under her jaw, that fit perfectly with her, where she planted a kiss, while her back was exposed as Lexa started caressing it up and down.

"That was amazing." She said with a smile on her face and she could feel Lexa smirking which made her chuckle at the brunette. "Cocky bastard." She said and Lexa chuckled. "I didn't say anything. You did." She said and Clarke smiled. "You didn't have to say anything, the self-appreciating smirk you're wearing is more than enough." Clarke said and Lexa continued to smile. "My smirk or your screams?" she said and Clarke slapped her stomach while the brunette started to laugh. "Relax, tigress, I am just teasing you. I love it when you scream." She whispered the last part.

"It's time for you to scream then." She said but Lexa only tightened her hold on her. "Hey, I want you to feel good too." Clarke said as she raised herself a little to look at Lexa. "How about a compromise? Today, you let me hold you and let it be all about you and when we see each other again, you can do whatever you want with me, okay?" Lexa said and Clarke stared at her. "Why do you say that?" she asked as Lexa put a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Because I know that you are going to miss me, right?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "Every single second of every single day." She said and Lexa smiled. "If I could remember you, I would too." She said.

"And I want to have this moment where I can hold you like this because when you think of me in one of those seconds, I want you to remember this moment right now, this moment where I made love to you, where I told you that I love you more than anything in the world, that you were the best thing that has ever happened to me. This is how I want you to think about me, not the way you did before. I don't want you to remember me dying. I want you to remember me finally living and not just surviving. Can you do that for me, beautiful?" Lexa said with the most charming and loving smile Clarke has ever seen and she couldn't help but let the tears fall while she kissed her.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Clarke whispered in Lexa's lips before pulling away to look at her. "Funny, I ask myself the same thing every day since the moment you walked inside my tent asking for a truce." She said and pecked her lips but Clarke wasn't joking. "I am so sorry." Clarke said and Lexa frowned. "Sorry for what?" she asked and Clarke was ashamed but she had to say it. "Niylah." She said and looked at her lover who had a smile on her face. "There is nothing to apologize for, beautiful. I was dead and you were alive, if I could have I would have told you to move on." She said as Clarke caressed her face.

"But I didn't. I didn't move on, there were no feelings involved, I just needed not to be alone." Clarke said shakily and Lexa shook her head, caressing her face. "You were never alone and you never will be. I may have not been there physically but I am always with you, even if I die, that won't change. You changed my life Clarke, you changed me. I am a better person because I knew you. Nothing, not even death will be able to take me from here." She said as she pointed at the blonde's heart. "I am yours." Lexa said and Clarke smiled.

"You are and I am yours too, always will be." She said and kissed her before she deepened the kiss and pulled Lexa to sit with herself sitting on the brunette's lap, the blanket falling on her butt. She continued to kiss before Lexa put her on her back again and looked at her. "Ready to scream again?" she said and Clarke smiled. "Just wait one year, Commander. In a year, you, I, blindfold and handcuffs have a very loud meeting planned out." She said as Lexa laughed before the mind blowing sex and pleasure started all over again.

Very loudly so.


	6. Is this goodbye?

Goodbye?

Clarke lost count on how many rounds they went but it was safe to say it was a lot of them. Lexa is a marvelous and generous lover, in and out of bed. She made breakfast for Clarke and brought it to her on the bed, there was strawberries, bread and eggs, milk, orange juice and coffee. Clarke asked her how she knew about these things and she said that her people wasn't as unaware of the customs before the first Praimfaya as the Sky People believed them to be and Clarke apologized for that then ate the breakfast and it was delicious. She put on some clothes as well as Lexa did and they just went to cuddle in bed.

"Why didn't you ever tell me that you are a genius?" Clarke asked the older girl as they decided that during their time together on Earth, they weren't able to get to know the little, simple things about each other that as an aspiring couple they should know about, such as favorite food, which for Clarke was the cake her father would always make on her birthday and for Lexa was this lamb stew her mother used to make for her every week, favorite color, which they found out that they both chose the color of the other's eyes so for Clarke, it was green and for Lexa, it was blue, etc, etc, and they also didn't want to talk about their mission, they knew what they needed to do so they decided to focus on each other.

"I am not a genius." Lexa said humbly as she laid down on her back while staring at the ceiling of the room while Clarke was on her side, head propped up on her elbow looking at her, conveying all the details to her mind so she wouldn't forget and would be able to draw from memory later on. "Becca said you are a genius and a prodigy on everything." She said and Lexa turned to her with a smirk. "Everything?" she asked and Clarke knew exactly what she meant. "No, pervert. Be serious. I love it. It was one of the first things I noticed about you." Clarke said. "What? That I may be heartless but at least I am smart?" she said and Clarke groaned on her pillow while Lexa laughed.

"I didn't know you very well then and you were a little bitch to me and my people up until that point so cut me some slack, I know better now. But I meant your intelligence and be serious." She said warningly and Lexa nodded still smiling. "Do you know what IQ is?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "I've read something about it, yes." She said and Lexa nodded. "Mine is 152 which would be considered to be gifted. Becca is 134 which would be considered to be a genius." She said and Clarke was shocked. "Really?" she asked and the brunette nodded. "Wow, my girlfriend is a certified genius. I really know how to pick." She said and Lexa nodded.

"What do you think our lives would have been like before the bombs?" Lexa asked curiously and Clarke smiled as with her right hand she started to play with Lexa's hand and her beautiful and long fingers. "I think that you would have come from a wealthy family, like insanely rich, but very good people. You would have been the oldest with 4 younger siblings." Clarke said and Lexa smiled. "4? I can barely deal with one." She said and Clarke looked at her shocked. "You have a sibling?" she asked and Lexa nodded. "A sister, she is 5 years old. I saw her not long before Roan brought you to me." she said.

"What is her name?" she asked, maybe she met her before. "Madi." She said and Clarke nodded. "So your parents are alive still?" she asked and Lexa shook her head. "Only my father, my mom died giving birth to Madi. He lives in another clan. I try to visit them as much as I can without raising suspicion to them but with the distance is very hard. Now continue the story and then, I will tell you about Madi." She said and Clarke nodded. "So it would be you, two boys, a girl and another boy, in this order. And you would be in charge of the family business." She said and Lexa smiled. "What about me?" Clarke asked.

"You would be a student, medicine and art, since you love to paint. And you would also be from a wealthy family, 3 siblings. A twin brother, a young girl and Raven would be adopted." She said and Clarke laughed. "A twin brother and Raven as my adopted sister? I love it." She said and Lexa smiled. "We would have met when we were kids and I would have asked you out." She said and Clarke looked at her. "Right there and then?" she asked and Lexa nodded. "Of course. And all of our friends would be brought together by us." She said.

"It sounds fun." Clarke said smiling and Lexa smiled nodding at her. "Yes, it does." She said and Clarke decided to broach the subject which she was very curious about. "Tell me about your family." The brunette sighed before starting. "My parents were both warriors from Trikru but when my mother got pregnant with me, she was very sick." Lexa said and Clarke was paying close attention. "What was wrong with her?" she asked and Lexa chuckled sadly. "Me." she said and Clarke was confused. "Almost all pregnancies with a nightblood baby are risky for the mother." Lexa said.

"It is not uncommon for the mother of a nightblood child to die at birth or to at least have some complications. The normal red blood of the mother mixes in with the dark one of the child and it can get pretty deadly sometimes. It's how the order of the Flame keeps tabs on where one of us could be born. My mother was very sick but the healer that took care of her was really good and so she survived my birth, barely, but she did. She wasn't surprised to learn that I was one since my family comes from a long line of nightblood kids. My great grandmother was one of the first people Becca turned into a nightblood so it was expected that at least once each generation of my family, a nightblood child is born." Lexa explained as Clarke listened.

"The child is allowed to stay with the family for the first five years with the monitoring presence of someone of the order then they are brought to Polis to start training. That is what happened to me and during those five years, I was happy and I was loved. They continued on with their lives, my mother was dismissed from duty since she was the surviving mother of a possible Commander and my dad became the chief of the village. We kept in touch, every once in a while and on my birthday, they would always come to Polis to celebrate it with me." she said smiling and Clarke smiled too.

"When I was 18 years old, I received a message that my mother had died on the birth of a second child, a nightblood child." She said and Clarke was surprised. "Madi is a nightblood?" she asked and Lexa nodded. "It was a blow. Not long before that was when I lost Costia and then my mother, it was bad but I went to visit my father and to be honest with you, I was a little concerned about having a sibling but when I saw her, I just loved her instantly and I promised Mom I would take care of her." she continued.

"And I did. Dad took quite a hit losing Mom but he had Madi to take care of and he was always a responsible father so he delved into caring for her. He continued tradition of coming to Polis on my birthday, on mom's, on his and on Madi's too. She is very sweet and cute and very stubborn which seems to be a family trait, there is just no way you won't fall in love with her." she said. "One thing she has in common with her big sister." Clarke said and Lexa chuckled. "I wish." She said.

"If she is a nightblood, why wasn't she in Polis training and why didn't she participate in the conclave after you died?" Clarke asked wincing slightly at the last part if the question since she didn't want to remember Lexa's death and Ontari's massacre of the nightbloods. Lexa had a sad smile on her face. "She was going to celebrate her 5th birthday on the week after the conclave happened so she wasn't expected in Polis until after that. And even if she was over 5 years old, only the nightbloods above the age of ten can participate in the Conclave so she wouldn't have been a part of it." Lexa said.

"How old were you when you won your conclave and became Commander?" she asked and Lexa sighed remembering those hard days after the conclave, after killing her friends and people she grew up with. "I was a week away from my 14th birthday when I ascended as Commander which was 2 weeks after I won the Conclave. My wounds were severe so they had to wait for me to recover to perform the ascension." She said and Clarke stared at her. "How hurt were you?" she asked already dreading the answer and Lexa looked at her unsure if she should say it but Clarke nodded so she did.

"When my victory was declared, my left eye was swollen shut, my right eyebrow was bleeding, my left ear was bleeding, I took a knife on my right shoulder, the left one was badly dislocated and since then every once in a while I need to pop it back in, my left wrist was broken along with my fingers, there was a 6 inches long cut on my belly which by a miracle left a little scar. There was an arrow on my right calf and a little burn on the other one and I took a pretty hard hit on the head too." She said and Clarke was beyond shocked.

"Who did that to you?" she asked and Lexa was silent for a while. "I'm sorry you don't have to answer if you don't want to." She said sincerely but Lexa shook her head. "It's okay, I just don't talk about it a lot but it's okay. You see, when the conclave started, I was first paired up with this older guy, Wil kom Podakru, he was a nice guy and very good with a bow and arrow so he was the one who got me on the calf. The bleeding ear and the burn on my leg happened because I was close to where there was an explosion created by the girl from the desert clan who had an affinity for those kind of things, fire and all." She said.

"The belly wound was on a sword fight with the guy from the rock line clan. But all the other wounds I got it on the last fight. There was only me and this guy, he was the eldest one among us and at least 5 years older than me. He was at least a foot taller than me and to top it all, he was from the Ice Nation, a bloodthirsty bastard who hated me and wanted to see me dead from day one, he dislocated my shoulder, broke my wrist and fingers and stabbed me on the back dishonorable but I cut off his head and won but I was unconscious not very long after I was declared the champion." She explained and Clarke felt every wound.

Clarke was left wondering if she should say something about all of that but she doubted that Lexa wanted words of pity or sorry so instead she decided to take her mind somewhere else to see if it helped. "You know when I met Luna, she said that she didn't run from the Conclave because she was afraid she was going to lose but because she knew she would have won." She said and Lexa laughed which she was counting as a win. "Luna was always very good in fighting, not so much when it came to other responsibilities that being a Commander required." She said and started explaining.

"She would have made through the final two which means we would have faced each other and I hate to think that I would have her death on my hands as well so it is a good thing she was so cocky and ran away." She said and Clarke nodded. "She was a dark person." She said thinking about Luna's words at the last conclave. "She wasn't a dark person, Clarke. Unlike me, she just never knew how to live with her darkness. Your exile after the Mountain has the same root that Luna's actions do. Self-hate and shame. You couldn't handle what you did and neither could she." Lexa explained and Clarke stared at her.

"I never thought about it that way." She said and Lexa nodded. "You had to kill innocent people to save your own and it ate you alive but what was worse for her was that she had to kill her twin brother. They were inseparable, where one was so was the other and that is how it was for 16 years until suddenly they faced each other on the battlefield and like any human, she wanted to survive even if it mean killing him, which in the end, she did. She couldn't forgive herself for feeling that way and doing what she did." Lexa explained and Clarke nodded, finally feeling like she could understand why Luna ended up like that. She also contributed for that by what they did with her for her blood.

"Maybe she can have this as second chance for her too." She said hopefully and Lexa nodded. "Don't worry, this time I will make sure of that." She said as they kissed. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the room making both of them sit up on the bed and looking at it when suddenly it opened revealing Becca who had a sympathetic look on her face. "It's time to leave, Lexa. Clarke needs to prepare for the journey and so do you, it will not be easy." She said and Lexa nodded understanding that their time was up for now. She got out of bed but not before Clarke held her wrist.

"No! Please, I don't want to lose you again." Clarke said as she was on her knees on the bed with Lexa standing beside it as they hugged each other tightly, especially Clarke who refused to accept the imminent departure. "There is no way that you could lose me. It's just for a while, we will see each other again. I promise." Lexa said as she held Clarke before they finally pulled back from each other. Clarke had tears on her eyes and falling down on her face. "So this is goodbye." She said and Lexa shook her head.

"I am never saying goodbye to you. This is simply a see you soon." She said and Clarke smiled before nodding. "See you soon. I love you." She said and kissed Lexa one last time before she pulled back completely form the blonde. "I love you too. Always." The brunette said as she went out of the room, closing the door behind her. "Lexa is right, Clarke. You will see her again and if everything works out, you will have a lifetime by her side, okay?" Becca said and Clarke nodded. "When do I leave?" she asked and Becca sighed. "Now. Come with me." she said and Clarke got out of the bed and followed her.


	7. Return to the Sky

Return

"So this is it." Clarke said as she and Becca walked through the door and out of the room she had stayed all while she was here and the older woman nodded. "Yes, it is. Your training has been completed and you have learned everything you need to make the right changes in the past to create a better future for everyone down on Earth and those who will come after you." She said and Clarke sighed. "So everyone's future rest on me now." She said and Becca gave her a small smile. "I know it is a lot of responsibility but you will not be alone and I believe in you. You can do this." She said and Clarke nodded as she has already accepted it.

"I know. It's just a lot." She said and Becca nodded. "Yes, it is but it will be okay. Now, I need you to listen, there is something else you must make a choice about." She said and Clarke stopped to look at her. "What is it?" she asked a little apprehensive on what was coming her way now. "Once you have changed everything, you will be faced with a choice, you can either retain the memories of this timeline or remove them so the only ones you will remember will be the way you changed them. However, you don't have to choose now, when the time is right, I will come for an answer. But it would be good to have that in mind." She explained and Clarke nodded.

It was a good thing that she didn't want an answer right now because Clarke wasn't sure what to choose in this particular question. On one hand, she appreciated some good memories and even the bad ones because it helped her become the woman she is now but on the other hand, not remember all the pain and loss and anger she had experienced in this other life would be very nice. But she let that go for now as they came to a stop in front of a white door on a long corridor that had other 4 doors and Clarke could see the 4 people she chose to help her all standing in front of one.

"Looking nice, Griffin." Raven said from the third door, looking better than the last time she saw her. Kane was on the fourth door and Murphy on the last one whereas Lexa was by the door on her side. She looked at her and they smiled at each other. "It is time guys. You must all open and walk through the doors together. Whenever you are ready." Becca said as she stood by the side watching. Clarke then turned to the others. "Ready?" she said and they nodded. "On three. One, two…" she looked a Lexa who looked back at her. "I love you." She said and Lexa smiled. "I love you too." She replied back. "Three." She said and they all pushed through the doors together.

There was a bright light and a deafening sound around her for a couple of seconds and Clarke wondered what was going or if it had worked whatever Becca was doing to bring them back but then, suddenly, she opened her eyes and immediately she recognized her room back on the Ark, the metal walls, the heavy air, the humming sound, the cold, it was all there around her. She really went back in time. Even though she already knew this would happen, Clarke didn't believe it 100%, she had her doubts that she wasn't just hallucinating but now, now there was no doubt. Becca really did it.

She tossed the blanket on the side and sat up on the bed looking over her room. It was so small, now that she was used on the vast space of the Earth, this was almost claustrophobic small for her but the feeling passed soon enough. She then stood up and went to her desk and looked at her drawings of Earth, or what she had read there once was on Earth at least, she could feel herself wishing to be back there but she reminded herself that she had a mission and that if she succeeded, she would have a life time with Lexa, who she pushed out of her mind to try and minimize the longing feeling she started to feel creeping in.

But thankfully to shake her away from that road was a knock on the door. She turned to it. "Come in." she said expectantly and the door opened revealing her father. She held back a sob form escaping when she saw his beautiful smile. "Good morning, kiddo." But she couldn't help herself from throwing herself in his arms when he said that. It had been so long for her since she last heard his voice and that nickname, she couldn't help it. "Hey, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Jake asked as she tightened her hold on him and buried her face on his chest.

"No, I just love you Dad. So much." She said shakily and he smiled while hugging her just as tight. "I love you too, kiddo. But are you sure you're okay?" he asked and she pulled back to look at him and nodded. "Now, I am." She said giving him a small smile and he nodded. "Good because you have school, remember? Come on, and get ready, breakfast time." He said and she smiled pulling back from him. "Where is Mom?" she asked him. "Finishing a few reports on the patient that got to the clinic yesterday, she said is bad." He said and she nodded as he left.

She smiled and then proceeded to use the bathroom with the counted water use they had on the Ark so to not waste any of it. All it did was make her think and ask herself, how the hell did they survived living in this tin can for so long when they had a whole planet down there just waiting for them? But now was not the time for Exodus yet, there was still much for her to do before the time for that came along. She quickly finished freshening up and put on her clothes which looked a lot like the one she wore before the Mountain captured her. But not quite.

She then walked out of her room with her little bags with a couple of books and notes which she didn't exactly remembered taking, not that it mattered now anyway and went straight to where she could see her mother working on those reports. She stood behind her and kissed her head, startling her. "Sweetie, you're already awake." She said as she stood up to hug her daughter and Clarke really missed this carefree and guilt free side of her mother who she hugged back. "Dad woke me up. I was hoping I could go to the clinic with you today, after school of course." She said and her mother smiled.

"Don't you have plans with Wells?" she asked and Clarke had to swallow the lump on her throat to think of her best friend that she had mistreated for such a long time for nothing. He was alive. No twelve years old victim yet. Ever. She shook her head. "No, I'm free today." She said even though she was not sure she had something planned with him or not but she wanted to take this year to learn as much as she could from her mother for when they get down, the others would surely appreciate it. "Well, then as soon as you finish, you can come help me with the new patient." She said and Clarke smiled.

"Now, ladies of my life. Why don't we go have breakfast? I am hungry." Jake said as he appeared and they both chuckled. "You are always hungry, Jake. But you're right, let's go." Abby said, gathering her things as the three of them walked to the food hall and went to get their meal before sitting down to it. "Clarke is coming to help me at the clinic today." Abby said to her husband. "Why don't you like coming with me to my work, huh?" her father said dramatically and she laughed at his antics. How she missed it.

She was about to answer when she remembered that on her father's work, there was a certain bird that could make a really good friend. "How about this? Today, I help Mom and tomorrow, I go with you and you can try and teach me something about wires and cables and all that engineering thing you do that no one can understand about it." She said and he looked at her. "Who are you and what did you do to my daughter?" he askedd and she smiled. 'You have no idea what you are talking about Dad', she thought.

"I am your daughter and I did nothing to her, I just figure that having knowledge can never be enough." She said and her father smiled. "Is that it or are you interested in someone that works there?" he asked and she laughed. "Only you and your wires, Dad. I promise." She said and they all smiled and continued making small talks and then while she looked around, she recognized some of the kids that soon enough would be in the dropship with her and she smiled, maybe she could save more of them this time.

"I have to go, see you later." She said to them once she was finished with her meal and headed on the way toward her class which she still remembered, thankfully. Clarke was thinking about what to do about Raven and the others when she heard someone calling her name and as she recognized that voice, her heart started beating fast as she turned around and saw that it was Wells coming towards her. He looked so different that that cold body that she buried within days of getting to Earth. He looked so alive and happier, she couldn't help but smile at him.

"Hey, I thought you were still having breakfast but when I saw your parents, they told me you had gone to class already which is weird, you are never so eager about classes. You find some of them very boring." He said as he got closer and she wasted no time in hugging him, taking him by surprise, of course. She remembered that he had feelings for her but right now, she really needed to do this. She had been such a shitty friend to him and he forgave her for everything, he deserves a better friend and she will be that for him, no matter what.

"Are you okay?" he said hugging her back though slightly confused by her behavior and she nodded her head. "I am. I guess I'm just feeling sentimental today." She said as she pulled back and they smiled at each other then started to walk together towards the class. "What is the first class?" she asked. "World history." He said and she nodded. It was a dull class because during her time with Becca she learned a lot about it so what the teacher was saying she already knew so when the woman started, she tune her out and let her mind take her.

Her thoughts then went to Wells and Charlotte and what happed between them and the reasons for it. She needed to find out to change that outcome, Becca had explained to her that she couldn't prevent Charlotte's parents' death or most of the reasons why the 100 were imprisoned but she had an idea on what she could do. She knew that Wells was amazing with kids so maybe if Charlotte got to know him before his father becomes her nightmare, she will not kill him, maybe he can even help her overcome the pain.

Clarke was the only one who knew that Wells disliked what his father did, he understood why there was a need to float people but there were times where he even fought with his dad to get him to show some mercy and maybe if Charlotte got to know that part of him, she would see how unfair and wrong it was to hold him accountable for what Jaha did. At least that was what she was hoping for, she just needed to find a way for that to happen. The rest of the class went by faster since she wasn't paying attention to it though she certainly looked like she was.

The rest of the classes went by pretty much the same, she and Wells would always sit together and talk a little during the class mostly sending notes back and forth, she had missed this. She realized a little too late how good of a friend he was and she wasn't planning on making that same mistake again though this time she would make sure to address his feelings for her. Her heart belonged to one person and the sooner he learned that she couldn't return his feelings, the sooner he could start healing and he wouldn't have to do it while seeing her being happy with Lexa, that would be way too cruel and he didn't deserve that.

She was brought back on by Wells who asked her a question. They were waiting for the last teacher of the day to arrive so there was a bit of time to relax before it started. "Did you listen to anything she said?" he asked talking about the previous teacher who had just left the class and she smiled shaking her head as he laughed as well. "Come on, Wells. You know I don't like her and she doesn't like me? She is a pain in the ass and everyone knows, not even you like her." she said in a matter of fact tone and he laughed.

"But at least, I pay attention to what she says. One day when we teach the future generations what would help them survive down on the Earth, you will regret not listening to her." he said and she smiled sadly. 'The Earth is the teacher and a merciless one at times, Wells', she thought. "Who knows? Maybe it will be us." She said and before he could say anything, someone interrupted. "Okay, children. Be quiet and let's start our lesson." Clarke froze and slowly turned her head from where she was looking at Wells and looked at who came through the door and it was the one person she hated more than Titus.

"Pike."


	8. Sour Encounter

Sour encounter

Clarke wasn't sure how to react seeing for the first time in months the face of the man who would become a murderous psychopath and would be one of the reasons why the love of her life died as well as many others, whatever good feelings she had when she first saw Wells completely changed into complete hate and disgust as she took a good look at the son of a bitch. He looked the same as he did during her interaction with him during the summit minus the weapons. Clarke could feel her hands turning into fists as she clenched them very tightly making her knuckles turn white, the only thing preventing her from jumping on him and breaking his neck at this moment was her mission.

But truth be told, with her knowledge of fighting and his lack of skills as of yet, she could easily take him down in a matter of seconds, and boy, how she wanted to do it but she knew that killing him now was not the way to go about it because whether she liked it or not, he was the reason why many people from Farm Station survived falling into the Ice Nation's territory and if for anything else, he must stay alive long enough for that one and only good deed he made but, after it, it's game over for him. Wells noticed her hands and the dark look on her face when seeing their teacher and was confused about it.

Sure, the majority of the kids hated the guy and he knew about it but Clarke never let her opinions of him show on her face, not so openly, so Wells was more than a little confused about her behavior towards the teacher even when Clarke was definitely his best student. He touched one of her clenched hands calling her attention back to him and away from Pike. When she looked at him and took a deep breath, she calmed down and her features changed it to a more relaxed one, though not that much, and she even unclenched her hands. "Are you okay?" he whispered and she nodded tensely. "Sorry, I just spaced out a little. I'm okay now. Thanks." She said also in whisper and managed a small smile that wasn't very good or convincing but it seemed to pass the message to drop it for now and he did.

She wasn't sure how exactly she was able to endure the class without killing the bastard but she had to control her urges while she decided to watch him closely. One of the things she learned during her training was that to defeat your enemy, you must think like them, know their every move and so she spent the class observing him. Every movement, even the smallest, meaningless ones, she saved on her mind because later, she could use it to destroy him if he turned out the same way he did before or worse. The only thing she knew for sure was that he had something else coming if he tried anything bad on the ground. She wasn't the same little girl he knew on his class anymore.

She was a leader, a warrior and more than anything, she was a protector of the people she cared about and him, Titus and a few others are on her black list and they should watch their back when she comes for them because she will and without mercy this time. She will not let them, under no circumstance, destroy her life and their world once again. She will stop them. She was thinking about all the ways in which she could get rid of Pike really fast and that was when she noticed him turning to her and asking a question so she tuned back in to listen to him and asked him to repeat the question. "I asked what is the first thing you do if you get to Earth?" he asked.

"Water, you will get dehydrated otherwise that can mean a quick death." She said without even blinking since it was an easy answer for her and one of the first things she had worried about when they got to the ground, to find a source of water. But she wasn't satisfied with it so before he could interrupt, she continued while staring at him without blinking. "And then, you should make yourself a fire and a weapon, after all you never know what kind of dangers may be waiting for you around the corner? What kind of enemy you can be faced with and what he can do? So it is always good to be well prepared." She said smirking at him and everyone was looking at her.

"Very well, Ms. Griffin." He said firmly and with a forced smile on his face but she could see he didn't know how to react to her answer and her stare and she could pat herself on the back though she doubted Becca would agree with what she did but she needed to do it if only this once. She needed to intimidate him somehow, even if just a little, so he would know not to mess with her. She needed to find joy in small measures since there was not much she could do in regards to him right now. Class finished not too long after that and she quickly grabbed her things and waited for Wells before she walked out of the room.

"Hey, what was that?" He asked her curiously as they walked together, she sounded different when she answered the question and she sighed tiredly. "Nothing. I just heard a few rumors about how badly he treats the kids that are not like us, you know privileged, and you know how I dislike injustice. Just because you and I are kids that have important parents doesn't mean that the ones who don't should be treated like trash. He should treat them better." She said and he nodded, convinced of her answer. It wasn't a lie. Murphy had shared some stories of it to her when they were on Polis and she remembered hearing stories about him before from some of the patients in her mother's clinic.

"I tried to talk to my Dad to see if there was a way to change that, to reprimand him somehow to get him to stop but he didn't listen to me, as usual. No wonder they all hate me. My father is nothing but a dick to them, it wouldn't surprise me if he knew about the things Pike does to the working people's kids and did nothing about it to not go against him. As if Pike is the bigger authority in this place." He said angrily and she nodded. "I know. It was why I reacted the way I did. When I saw how he was treating us so nicely, I just got angry." She said half truthfully and he nodded before smiling. "He certainly wasn't expecting it." He chuckled and she laughed.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked once they stopped laughing and Clarke was glad he believed what she had said, not that it was a complete lie anyway. "My mother needs my help at the clinic so I promised her I would go there after school." She said and he nodded, it was expected. She usually would go there when there wasn't anything else planned between them so it wasn't a surprise at all to him. "Then we will leave the chess for tomorrow." He said but she shook her head. "Dad got jealous because I like going with mom to her work so I promised I would go with him to his work tomorrow." She said and he had a shocked look on his face and she laughed at him.

"Yes, I know I don't like engineering, I can't understand what they are saying more than 80% of the time but I love my Dad so I am putting on the effort to go and spend some time at his working place for a change. Who knows? Maybe I will learn something while I'm in there." She said smiling and so did he just as they came to a stop in front of the clinic. "See you tomorrow in class then." He said and she nodded as they hugged goodbye and she entered the place. "Hey, Mary. Where is my Mom?" Mary, Pete, Jackson and her mother were the doctors they had on the Ark. Mary was 58 years old and last time volunteered for sector 17 and Pete died during the landing therefore leaving her Mom and Jackson alone.

"Hello, Clarke. Your mom is inside doing surgery on the new patient that came today along with Jackson. She said it may take a while so you and Pete can handle the minor injury patients." She said and Clarke smiled at her before she got ready and started working along with Pete on the patient with a cut on the arm and so on. It was about two hours later and she had finished with her work when Clarke finally saw her mother. She was looking defeated and Clarke knew that whatever happened, it wasn't good so she waited for her mom to approach before she offered a hug which was very welcomed.

"Did he die?" She asked gently since she knew her mom only had that face on when she had lost or was about to lose a patient despite all her efforts. "He might not make it through the night." She said against Clarke's shoulder while the blonde just held her tighter. "I am sorry, Mom. We know you did the best you could." She said and Abby nodded before pulling back. "Thank you, sweetie. He suffered an accident yesterday and his kidneys were in pretty bad shape already but we did everything we could and now it's up to him." She explained and Clarke nodded. "What about you, sweetie? How was it in here today?" she asked and Clarke smiled at her.

"It was fairly easy and calm. Pete and I handled it all very well, thank you. Besides, I've been helping you with these types of things since I was old enough to suture which would be since I was 6." She said and Abby gave her a smile. "You will become a great doctor if you choose to pursue it, sweetie. You already are." She said and Clarke gave her a small smile while thinking how that is not all she will become one day. She will also become a leader for their people and if it all goes well, she will also be the wife of the Commander of the 13 Clans and just thinking about it made her smile become naturally bigger which made Abby think it was because of what she said.

"I hope so." Clarke said to her mother, despite the fact that she was actually thinking and talking about being Lexa's wife and spending their lives together. Her mom, none the wiser about the truth of what was on her daughter's mind these days, said to her while taking a look around. "Well, I am finished for the day. Do you want to go home?" she asked looking back at her daughter and Clarke nodded at her. "Yeah, I'm super tired." She said agreeing and Abby smiled. "Alright, just let me warn the others, grab my stuff and we can go." She said so Clarke was left alone and she was busy looking at some charts when her mother came back and they went to their quarters.

Jake was still at work since it usually took him a while to go around the Ark to check on the other stations so it was only the two of them for a while so while Clarke made homework and Abby revised the work she brought home to study about certain patients, her mom liking the little alone moment they were having, started a conversation. "So Clarke, is there anyone special in your life that we don't know about?" she asked with a smile on her face and Clarke looked at her and smiled though she couldn't tell the truth about a certain Earthborn commander so she simply shook her head.

"Nope, no one interesting." She said shrugging. "Honey, you do know that Wells…" Abby was saying but Clarke interrupted already knowing where her mother was going with this particular conversation. "Has feelings for me? I'm not an idiot, Mom. I can see it very clearly which is why I am going to talk to him about it. I don't want to hurt him but there is no hope for anything like that ever happening between us." She said smiling a little and Abby nodded as she already expected this kind of compassionate and responsible behavior from Clarke even though she did no such a thing last time but it is not late to change that now that she can.

"I agree sweetie. It's better that way." She said and they were both startled by Jake's appearance since they didn't hear him come in. "Better that way what?" he said as he kissed them both on the foreheads and Clarke told him about the conversations she wanted to have with her best friend about his feelings for her, she never had any secrets with her father, it was enough the huge one she was keeping already, this was nothing compared to it. Her father smiled. "He is not very subtle though I thought you would at least give him a chance." He said as he sat down with Abby on one side and Clarke on the other chair.

"No, not really. Wells is like a brother to me and I don't want to mix things so I will be honest with him. The faster he knows, the sooner he can start healing and maybe he will forgive me soon enough and give himself a chance to fall in love with someone who will love him the same way. He is a great guy and he deserves the best. Unfortunately, I am not that for him, not like that so I got to let him know that so that I don't keep hurting him." She said and her parents smiled. "I think that is very thoughtful of you sweetie and I am pretty sure he will forgive you immediately. He can't stay mad at you." Abby said as Jake nodded agreeing with his wife and Clarke smiled.

The three of them had dinner together while making jokes which was something usual, her father was a joker and a prankster so he told them about a prank he pulled on Sinclair and they laughed at him and Clarke had missed this so much. After her father's death and her imprisonment, her relationship with her mom only kept going downhill even though they loved each other, there was just so much between them that it never truly recovered. But now, now Clarke was determined to not only save her father but also her relationship with her mother, after all she is going to need both of them to face what was coming her way later on.

She bid them good night after rekindling her promise to go with her Dad to work the next day which warranted a good laugh from all three of them, Clarke went to her room and bed and looked up at the ceiling as she thought about her day and what happened and what was going to happen tomorrow. She would go with her father and make sure to stumble into a certain bird who she hoped she could make friends with, especially since there won't be any Finn drama in between them this time. She really needed to plan her actions well with Raven and that is what she would do.

With her plan to approach Raven in mind, Clarke turned on her side and went to sleep, though it took her quite some time to actually fall asleep but once she did, her dreams were filled with a beautiful green field and a wonderful sunset in the background and two very familiar arms around her waist and the exciting feeling in a certain Commander beside her. She couldn't wait until that was real. She will make it so, no matter what.


	9. Approaching an ally

Approaching an ally

The next day started out pretty much the same for Clarke as it did the day before, of course this time without the overwhelming and blinding excitement of seeing people she missed once again. No, today, she was more focused, more alert to what was happening to her and more specifically what was happening around her. She couldn't let her emotions get the best of her or she might screw this up so she needs to concentrate on her mission and what she needs to do. With that in mind, breakfast with her parents was nice, her father was teasing that one day with him and the world of engineering and she would never want anything else.

Of course Abby laughed at that while teasing that Clarke was made to be a doctor and that a bunch of junk wouldn't change that to which Jake put a hand on his heart faking it that he was hurt by what she said and all Clarke did was laugh at their terribly funny banter on who would sway Clarke to their side. Unfortunately for her Dad, her mother was right. Clarke loved taking care of people, it's one of the reasons why she also became the leader of the 100, her good strategies to keep them safe earned their respect, her medical knowledge earned their trust and her care for them earned their loyalty besides she liked being an almost doctor and disliked engineering very much, though she did know a thing or two about it.

Once again, she met up with Wells on her way to the classes that they shared, only this time he was accompanied by his father which was a shock and a little hard to swallow but she kept all of that inside and treated him the same way she would in this time but it was hard. It was hard keeping up the pretense when she was in front of the man who not only killed her father, imprisoned her, send 100 kids herself included to an unexplored planet without help, set a great technology evil onto them, killing and torturing people on her name as well as so many other unspeakable things along the way.

However, this version of Jaha was still just the father of her best friend and her father's best friend and not the man she remembers from their last moments together on the ground inside the second dawn bunker, so she did her best to treat him as lovely and amicably as she always has. She didn't want him to think something was wrong with her, neither him nor Wells so she was very convincing, thankfully and after he said goodbye to them both to go in search of her mother and left the two of them alone, Clarke let a small sigh of relief before tuning back in to what her friend was talking about and she caught the last part of it.

"… the dad died and now so did the mom which means he's also an orphan. It's very bad. And Dad won't help him." He said angrily and she immediately knew who he was talking about. Murphy. She hadn't know who he was talking about before and truth be told, hadn't really done much to find out but now everything was different. She knew that Murphy was imprisoned a little before she did so she knew it must be soon, which means she must act soon before he goes to the Sky Box, it needs to happen but not now. So she quickly formed a plan.

"Wells, I forgot something important I have to do and I don't think I can make it to back to the second class, can you cover for me and write it down what the teachers explain today?" she asked as they came closer to the class entrance and he looked at her. "Hey, if you don't want to go to class today, you just have to say it. You know I will not say anything to them." He said smiling at her and she smiled back at him. She had occasionally done this, you know missing classes, usually so she could go paint her heart's desire, for hours at times and she was thankful for al those times when he covered for her not only with the teachers but with her parents as well when they would ask for her.

"Yeah, I know. I actually don't think I have recovered from my anger with Pike and I might not control myself today and I could get in serious trouble so could you cover for me?" she half-lied because she really wasn't sure how would she continue to act being around Pike so much all the while remembering all the lives he destroyed with his megalomaniac notion that they were superior to the grounders and had the right to their land when in reality they were nothing but intruders. Idiotic jackass, she thought. Wells nodded at her, none the wiser. "Don't worry. Just go relax a little. I will cover for you." He said and she hugged him. "Thank you Wells." She said and he shook his head.

"You're welcome besides it's what best friends are for. I will always have your back." He said sincerely and she knew he was telling the truth, his pretense of being guilty for Jake's death to protect her relationship with her mom proved that and she smiled at him gratefully before turning and walking back the way they came from until she heard him enter the class and close door then she made a turn for the kitchen and asked for a little snack and given her parent's position, she got it without trouble and then she went back to her place and got a few medicines that her mother had given her a few days before she returned if she remembered correctly since she figured Murphy might need it.

After gathering what she thought he might need now that he is alone, without his parents, she went into the direction where she remembered from the Ark's blueprint that she studied in the valley was Murphy's quarters. She had hated it when Finn nicknamed her princess, it made her feel unfair and a brat and a privileged and she hated it because it was the truth. It was done unconsciously but reality is she never really knew anything beyond her part of the Ark which was the privileged one so he wasn't exactly straying that far away from the truth of her life anyway.

Which is why this new part of the Ark was untouched waters for her, she had never been this way here before, especially not alone but she had studied the Ark's structure enough to know where the places she would need to know were located, Becca thought it would be good information and she had been right. She could see a few looks were given to her by some people but she ignored them until she came to stop in front of his door, she steeled herself before knocking three times. It took a couple of seconds before the door was yanked open and a much younger and unscathed Murphy opened the door.

She could see he was surprised so she started. "Hi, my name is…" she started but he cut her off. "Clarke Griffin, the doctor's daughter' and little Jaha's best friend, I know who you are." He said scoffing and crossing his arms around his chest and she nodded already knowing that he knew who she was but pretending she didn't. "Yes and I know who you are too, John Murphy and well, I heard about what happened to your mom, I was wondering if you would like a little help." She said and gave him a small smile while he had a scowl on his face.

"I don't need your pity, blondie. You should go back the way you came from and get the hell away from my door." He said and was about to close the door on her face before she stopped with her hand and looked at him straight in the eye. "To have pity for you would be to believe that you can't survive what has happened to you and I believe you are one hell of a survivor, Murphy so I don't pity you. I am simply offering my help." She said firmly and sincerely and he looked at her for a while searching for something he must have found because he opened the door begrudgingly.

She smiled before entering the room and she was shocked. It was so small, that she wondered how a family could even live here where it could barely hold 2 people at most but she didn't let it show on her face or else he would kick her out forcefully if necessary and she didn't want that. "I am sorry about the smell, I tried cleaning it the best I could but I am not very good at it." He said still wary of her but she looked at him and shook her head. "I don't mind. Well, I figured there were a few things you night need so I took a few I could spare and brought them for you and I also figured you might be hungry so I got these for you as well." She said giving him what she brought, putting it on top of the table.

He crossed his arms and stared at her and the things not moving an inch forward, looking as if he was analyzing her and her motives. She could see the questions in his mind of why was she here, what could she gain from doing this, what she would want in return for the help and she was sad to know he never experienced kindness. "How do you even know who I am and what happened to me? Why do you care? What do you want for this?" he asked defensibly and she patiently responded. "Wells told me that he heard what happened to you." She said and he scoffed. "I bet he was laughing about it." He said and she shook her head. "Actually no." she said gaining his attention as he looked at her.

"He was actually pretty upset that after everything that happened to you, he was particularly angry in your behalf because his father wasn't helping you now that your mother is gone." She said firmly to make her point yet gently not to scare him and he smirked. "Really? Are you trying to tell me that Jaha Junior actually cares about what happens to people like me? Don't make me laugh." He said smirking and she shook her head. "Did you know that Wells begged for his father to spare yours and that he refused to even acknowledge his dad for two weeks because of what he did to your father?" Clarke said as a matter of fact and he was shocked.

It wasn't a lie, though. Wells really did that for him, he felt that Murphy's dad shouldn't be floated for trying to save his sick son and that he should have been given the medicine so he would not have to steal it but of course, Thelonious followed the law and floated the poor man. He wouldn't talk to his father for two weeks, Clarke was actually the one who encouraged him to let the anger go, there was nothing he could do anymore so he did, at first only a good morning or something and eventually, he started talking to him again but every now and then, they still fought because of Jaha's decisions.

"Why would he do that?" he asked confused by the new information and she smiled. "Because he didn't agree with the punishment his father gave yours. Because he couldn't blame your father for doing what he could to save you. Because he is a better person than people judge him for, based solely on his last name. Believe me, some times, he hates his father as much as the people of the Ark do." She said and it was true. "Why do you care? Why do you want to help me?" he asked her seriously.

"Because I put myself in your place and I would like for someone to extend out their hand for me so I am doing it for you." She explained it like this so he wouldn't be more suspicious of her. "And what do you want in exchange of that?" he asked and she was sad about this. "Why would I want something in exchange?" she asked him seriously. "Because people always want something in return for their help. So what is your price?" he said and she shook her head. "I don't have one." She said and he shook his head. "So you want me to owe you? Not going to happen." he said and she shook her head, she knew he was stubborn but this was too much.

"No, I don't you to owe because you don't. I simply want to help." She said sincerely but he wasn't budging. "What do you want? Say it." He said forcefully and she was tired of this game. "Fine, if you are so desperate for me to name something I want in exchange for my help to which was for free, may I add, I will do it." She said and she could see he was almost relieved. Maybe, the people he met were like this so wanting something in return was a comfort zone for him, he knew what to expect and could think on how to deal with it. That must be it, she thought and she felt for him but she would change that.

"My price for helping you in your time of need is… that you become my friend. Mine and Wells'." She said smiling feeling accomplished and she could see his shocked face. Of everything he thought she would ask for, certainly a friendship proposal was not even on the list. He was beyond confused at this point. "You want me to be your friend and Jaha junior's?" he asked again to make sure he heard correctly and she nodded. "I really didn't want anything in return, just wanted to help you but since you insisted, yes. That is what I want." She explained smiling.

"Why would you want to be my friend?" he asked not understand why would she request that from him and she shrugged, it's not like she could tell him the truth. "I don't have friends beside Wells and neither does he besides me since all people can see when they look at him is the fact that he is the Chancellor's son so it would be nice to have a few more friends in our side and you are a good option for that role so why not? Besides, something tells me we will be great friends one day so why not start now?" she said and noticed him looking at the stuff.

"Hey, look at me." She called out and after a while, he did. "You can say no and I will be on my but I won't take the things back. They ware yours and so is the choice. I will be pretty sad if you say no and I think my ego will have to take the blow of your rejection but you don't have to worry, the things will stay with you no matter what you decide." She said sincerely and gave him a smile to try to ease his mind. He seemed to think for a while before he sighed and dropped his arms. "Why not? What do I have to lose at this point?" he said and nodded at her and she smiled.

"First of all, ouch! That hurt my ego, I am a very good friend to have, I'll have you know." She said and he smirked which she counted as success. "Second of all, tell me where the cleaning products are because you and I are going to bond over cleaning and let me warn you, there will be no resting until this place is spotless. Ready?" she asked and he nodded warily. "Lead the way, blondie." He said and she smiled before they started cleaning while talking about things, getting to know each other.

Mission one - befriend Murphy : success.


	10. Catching a bird

Catching a bird

"So then, he looked at me like I had grown another head before he continued class but was totally out of his game after that." Clarke said between laughs as she told him about her answer to Pike's question yesterday. "Who would have thought that you had a badass bone in your body, blondie?" Murphy said and she sighed. "That one stuck, didn't it?" she asked referring to the nickname and he smirked. "You can bet it did." He said and she smiled. "Well, there are worst nicknames to be called." She said as she looked at the clock.

"Wow, look how late it is. I have to go. I promised my Dad I would try to let him make me fall in love with engineering today. Can't disappoint him." She said as she stood up and so did he. He approached her as she stopped by the door. "I'm supposed to go back to school in 3 days, am I supposed to pretend you don't exist or something?" he said trying to gauge her reaction and waiting for a certain answer that never came. She shook her head and chuckled. "Of course not, stupid." She said, thinking of how different the Murphy she knew was from this version of him.

"You are my friend now and I like it beside it might just be the opposite. How do you think people will react to you hanging around two 'rich' kids? They might look down on you for that." She said truthfully and he shook his head. "If Jaha junior is as cool as you say he is and you are okay with me, I really don't care. They never liked me anyway." He said shrugging and she nodded. "He is cool, I am okay with you and it's their loss. Anyway, tomorrow I will come back here after school to check on you and I will bring Wells with me. I think you guys can become really good friends too." She said and he nodded.

"Cool. See you tomorrow then, blondie." He said to her and she nodded before hugging him quickly as to not push it with him. "See you tomorrow and I will find a nickname for you." She said pulling back and he smirked at her. "Good luck at that. You look like you will need it a lot." He nodded before she opened the door and left. She could see people staring at her again but this time she could read what they were thinking about her visit to Murphy and how it was less innocent than it was. But she really didn't care if they thought she was with him or not.

It took her quite some time to go from his house to her father's work. He had given her a card to allow her through whenever she decided to come so she used it and the door opened for her before she started hearing the machines here and there and the smell of oil along with a few sparks going around here and there, she really wasn't into any of this, it was most definitely not her thing but she had promised her Dad and she didn't want to disappoint him. She then walked towards what she could call his office but on her way there, she heard a loud voice and a laugh she could recognize anywhere. Raven.

She turned to the sound of the voice and saw her talking with Sinclair who was her father's employee of some short. It was like her Dad, Sinclair, Wick and Raven in the chain of command here so Raven worked with her Dad, Clarke knew that, she just didn't like talking about him with anyone so they never touched on that subject which Raven had respected since they didn't talk about Finn either, not even when he was alive giving the whole cheating on the brunette with the blonde and not telling wither one about the other thing. When she reproached Clarke from keeping the truth form the people, that was the first time Raven mentioned him.

"Nice kid that one." She was startled by her Dad's voice as he stood behind her and followed her line of sight and looked at Raven as well. "Wow, Dad. Creepy much?" she said as her heart slowed down again from the startle he gave her. He laughed before hugging her from behind and resting his chin on top of her head. "Sorry kiddo, couldn't miss the chance to do it. But why were you looking at her, in particular? Interested?" he smirked and it took her some time to figure out what he meant by that but when she did, she started laughing. "Oh my God, Dad. No." she said and continued laughing at him.

It had been three years ago, just before her 13th birthday when she told her parents, she was interested in girls too. She wasn't afraid of their reaction because they were really cool about it but her Dad, being the drama Queen he was, first teased her by saying that adding girls to the mix now he had too many people to scare away from her and then teased her by saying that if she gets a girlfriend at least he won't have to worry about being a grandpa soon even though the contraception device was already on her and prevented that from happening. They laughed about it. It was nice.

And she was glad for that because although she knew that her mother knew and was okay in regards of her feelings for Lexa, she wasn't sure what to expect from her dad once he met her in an official 'you're dating my baby girl' setting. If she had to guess, she would probably go for the option that he would like her choice of girlfriend and she really hoped it was that way because she would hate for her dad to not support her relationship with Lexa because if her previous experience with Titus was anything to go by, they will have to face a lot of stuff just to be together and she would feel better if she had her family's support to help her thought it all.

"Why not? She is a great kid though I don't like her boyfriend that much. He looks like he will hurt her badly and I don't want that to happen." He said the last part sorrowfully and Clarke cringed inside while thinking he had no idea she was a part of that hurt too though she was not going to be a second time. No way in hell. Whatever she had with Finn in that romantic way was gone and in the past where it will stay forever because she hated being part of that love triangle and in no way would she ever do it again even because she has a girlfriend waiting for her on Earth so a big and resounding NO.

"We shouldn't get involved in other people's business besides I came here to let you introduce me to the world of engineering so why don't we do that instead of meddling in other people's romantic lives?" she said looking up to him and her Dad smiled. He then started showing to her what was done here and there and although she had no real interest in following his footsteps, she did try to absorb everything that could be useful once the 100 got down to the ground and before Raven comes. It was only 10 days but a lot can happen in that time and she is sure a lot will, so better to be prepared.

Soon enough, it was time to leave so her father asked her to wait while he finished some things, grabbed his stuff so they could go home together and he promised to tease Abby about how he is in the way of making her fall in love with engineering and leave medicine aside as she laughed at his antics and started looking around that was when she seized the opportunity to formally meet this Raven. The brunette was working on something that Clarke wasn't sure what it was so she approached her. "Hi." She said as the other girl looked at her and she smiled. "Hey." She said back. "I'm Clarke, Jake's daughter and you are…" she said pretending to not know her name.

"Raven Reyes, mechanic." She said and Clarke nodded. "Yes, I remember. You're the youngest Zero-G mechanic in 50 years." She said and Raven smiled. "52, actually." She said and Clarke smiled back. "My Dad likes you very much. I think he secretly wanted me to be like you, involved in all of this but it's just not my thing. I take more after my mom." She said making conversation and it was working well so far so she kept going. "Yeah, your Dad is awesome and that would explain why I have never seen you here before and how you look completely lost in here." She joked and Clarke smiled.

"Exactly but I was wondering if you could help me. I have been wondering if you could teach me how to make radios? I've been curios about it for quite a while. Don't tell my Dad but it mostly why I came here anyway." She said and Raven laughed while nodding. "Don't worry, I got you. And yes, I can. Radios are super easy. Sit here." She motioned for the chair and Clarke sat down beside her as she started explaining how to put the different parts together even how to make those parts or replace them for others if you don't have them all with you.

They worked and chatted and got to know each other better and Clarke was grateful that there was no strain between them caused by the 'you slept with my boyfriend who is now in love you' situation which was exactly what she wanted to avoid. She had wanted to be better friends with Raven and by the time she died with the death wave, they were but of course it was not a friendship untouched by everything that went on between them. Finn cheated on Raven with her, then he practically left Raven for her, then she killed Finn, then Raven was tortured in TonDC and then tortured in Mount Weather.

Then she left and Raven joined A.L.I.E, who tortured her mind, then they fought about how to approach the news of the second Praimfaya and the list just continues on. There were so many things that went wrong between them and a lot because of Clarke's decisions and mistakes and she wanted to rectify those mistakes with the mechanic. She wanted them to be friends without all of that cloud of negativity hanging above their heads and right now at this moment, Clarke believed she just made the first successful step towards achieving that and she couldn't be happier about it.

She made a few things with Raven's instruction, though she wasn't very good with this kind of things, she tried her best to memorize what Raven had explained to her in regards of the Radios so she could maybe help her make more once they were down on Earth and without the help from the Ark. She kept trying and trying until she grew tired and put them down before sighing tiredly. "These are harder than I thought it would be." She said and Raven smiled nodding her head. "A little but for someone with no interest in mechanical stuff, you're pretty good." She said and Clarke smiled.

"Thank you. My friend Wells, he wants to be an engineer, he would probably be better at this than I am." She said and Raven frowned. "Mini Jaha?" she said and Clarke sighed. "Why does everyone call him that? He is actually a nice person and like everyone else, he also thinks his dad is a jerk, you know." She said and Raven was a little surprised. "Really?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "Yes, he is still his father and he loves him but he doesn't always, more often than not, agree with his dad's actions." She said and Raven was still surprised.

"I would never expect Mini, I mean Wells, to go against his Dad." She said truthfully and Clarke nodded, that was the general idea they had of her best friend. "Just like I told my friend earlier, people only see his last name and they don't even give him a chance to show them who he is and not who is his dad, you know." She said as Raven nodded before she spoke again. "Why don't you come sit with us at lunch tomorrow? That way you can get to know him, we can get to know each other and you can teach him this stuff because the hair color is catching up to me on this one." She said cracking a joke while Raven laughed.

"Why not? It's not like a have a lot of friends outside of Sinclair and since your Dad is so cool, I will assume you are too so I will give you and Wells a chance." She said and Clarke nodded, she was glad it didn't take much to convince Raven to give them a chance. That was the moment where her father called for her. She said goodbye to Raven and went to her Dad as they left the workshop behind. "You were talking to Raven?" he asked as he hugged her and she smiled. "I think Wells and I just made a new friend." She said smiling and he smiled as well as they made their way to their quarters.

Mission two – befriend Raven : success.


	11. A moment

A moment

The next day, Clarke didn't wait too long before she told Wells everything she did the day before and also how she met Murphy and Raven and how she asked them to be their friends. Of course, at first he was suspicious of them and completely confused by her actions but Clarke explained that they were really nice people and that they would give him a chance to be more than just Chancellor Jaha's son though she also warned him about Murphy's nickname for him and the one he got for her as to easy him to the idea.

He was a little angry and taken aback but after a while he shrugged it off and said he had heard worse so it was okay which was true. People could be really mean to him for simply being Jaha's son, which she always hated but couldn't do much about it except berate them when they did in front of her and be there for him when they didn't. She was really happy for that. The reason she wanted them to be friends is because one, she doesn't plan on letting anything happen to Wells and second, because she truly believes that they can all be great friends and down there, she will need them more than they know. And like they used to say it years ago, the more the merrier.

Just as they finished talking over lunch, Raven came with her tray to sit with them. At first, it was awkward between the mechanic and her friend but then Raven took the initiative. "Hi, I'm Raven Reyes. I don't know if Clarke told you about me." The girl said and Wells nodded. "She did but I already knew who you were. The youngest Zero-G mechanic in 52 years." He said and she smiled at him. "Finally, someone gets the number correctly." She said before looking at Clarke who smiled shrugging. "Hey, I told you he was more interested in that area than me." She said and Raven nodded.

"She did say you are." Raven said turning to him and Wells nodded at her. "It's my passion." He said and she smiled nodding. "I feel you." She said and Clarke smiled. "Wells used to make me toys out of steel things. I still have them you know." Clarke said as she turned to him and he nodded. "And I still have the hideous paints you made of me. You would think she was a good painter all her life but let me tell you, that was not the case." He said to Raven who nodded smiling. "I was 3 you guys, cut me some slack." She said and they laughed with her.

"But if it is your passion, then why don't you go for it?" Raven asked and he sighed. "My Dad. He wants me to be Chancellor after him, the youngest Chancellor in history in forever. He didn't exactly give me a choice on the matter. He didn't ask me if it was what I wanted but more like informed me it was what I would do. But maybe it won't be that bad, if I do become chancellor, I can change a few things that are wrong, right? Like some of the laws and all of that?" he asked shrugging his shoulders and the girls nodded.

"Well, it's a shame. We could use a few more hands." Raven said and he smiled. "Well, I'm not Chancellor yet so if you need help, I can do it." He said and soon enough they were talking about the subject and Clarke just listened, pleased that she has achieved making Raven their friend. They kept talking until the end of lunch when Raven said she had to go back to work and bid them goodbye. "She is cool. I like her." Wells said once she was gone as they made their way to the playing center where they started their chess match and Clarke smiled. "Me too." She really did as well.

Once they were finished, Clarke convinced Wells to go and see Murphy. At first he was reluctant but like always she convinced him to go and between the two of them, Murphy would have supplies for at least a week more. Once again, Clarke made her way through the halls but this time everyone looked at them since Wells was with her, she knew he was a little uncomfortable with the stares but he pushed through it. And when she asked him about it, he replied that he was never someone to let the judgment of other people stop him and he wouldn't start now so she smiled and they continued and soon they came to his door.

She knocked on the door and after a few seconds Murphy opened it and he seemed a little surprised before he recovered. He was certainly looking better that yesterday when she saw him and she was pleased by it. He looked Wells up and down. "So you're here, Junior." He said and Wells nodded. "I am. Do you mind?" he asked and Murphy shrugged. "I don't know. Blondie here practically barged in my life, I am start to think is a rich kid's thing." He said and Wells nodded. "Only one way to find out." He said as the boys stared at each other, Murphy doing the same thing he did to her yesterday.

"Blondie said you fought with your Dad to help mine." He said and Wells nodded. "He was following the law but that doesn't mean that it was right. No father should be punished for caring about their child. They should have helped him take care of you." Wells said truthfully and Murphy nodded at him and at his answer. "Okay, you can come in." He said and stepped aside to let them enter. Clarke stayed silent the whole time because she wanted the boys to get along on their own. She had already given the push now it was up to them to form their friendship. She needed to take a step back every once in a while.

And luckily for her, they did. Murphy was a nice guy when he wanted to be and so was Wells and she knew that she did the right thing by bringing them together. They spent the day talking bad about teachers and talking about the Ark and many other things and they also gave new supplies for Murphy who at first refused but with the 'I am not giving you a choice and you better stay quiet and accept it' look from Clarke, he accepted the gifts and thanked them. They spent three hours with him before they left with promise to see him in school.

The next two days went on the same way though with Clarke, Raven and Wells talking and getting to know each other even though Clarke noticed that Raven has yet to mention Finn, maybe it's because of what he is accused off or maybe she doesn't trust them yet either way, Clarke would let her tell them on her own but what she was glad for was that Raven did like Wells and changed her conceptions of him which was cool, one more person to take care of him if needed. She could feel a little more relieved.

Then when Murphy came along, as promised, Clarke was the first to notice him and usher him to their table. Of course they had told Raven about Murphy and Murphy about Raven but Clarke in specific was apprehensive about their encounter after all if she doesn't have a good track record with Raven, Murphy was even worse though from her perspective they had found so sort of understanding by the end which she was hoping would happen here too after all, she needed the two of them with her more than anything to be able to complete her mission.

He sat down beside the girl and they exchanged looks before Murphy spoke up. "Hey." He said. "Hey you." She said it back. "Murphy." He said. "Raven." She said. "You're cool with them?" he asked. "Yeah, you?" she asked. "Yep." He said. "Good." He extended his hand and she shook it. "Good." And that was their first interaction and the start of an amazing friendship. The two shortly after discovered a shared passion for teasing the other two about their privileged ways so it was like teams were formed and they all started teasing each other.

There was a lot of laughter involved and of course Clarke noticed some people staring at her little group of friends and all she could was laugh harder. The four of them clicked well and pretty fast and every day that they spent together, laughing, teasing each other, telling each other things and stories about themselves, only made sure that that bond was strengthened and Clarke was feeling pretty confident that she was already making changes for the better this time around even if for now, they would be considered small.

Even Murphy and Wells got friends, they would usually team up to tease the girls or a few guards, it very was fun and nice to see it. Murphy and Clarke would have more serious talks, he was opening up to her about his feelings in regards to what happened to his Dad though he still hasn't talked about his mom and she didn't push. With Raven, Murphy had a friendship that didn't need many words, they actually had a pretty good understanding of each other, coming from ruined families and all so they knew how to treat each other. It looked weird to someone from the outside but within the group their dynamic made sense.

And Raven and Clarke clicked very well, they talked about boys and Clarke told her she was bisexual to which Raven revealed she was as well which lead to a lot of teasing from the boys. But here and now, they were girls without the weight of their actions on their shoulder yet or at least Raven more than Clarke. The blonde didn't forget her past but she tried to enjoy the present and what it was offering her, after all once they got down to Earth, there would be no time to just be teenagers, they will need to become leaders, warriors, survivors, better enjoy while they still can.

After they said goodbye, Clarke went back and was home alone, her parents were still at work which wasn't that unusual so she took her time to read a book she got on the library they had, incredibly it was one she hadn't read while in training so it was a good choice. She started reading it, letting her mind relax and focus on the story and it did so much that she lost track of time and what rose her from her reading was the sound of her father's voice and as she opened the door quietly to not make a sound and heard what he was saying, she knew exactly what was happening and her blood froze.

Soon enough she heard her mother's voice join in and she got closer and behind the door as she listened to what they were saying. "No, they'll panic." Her mother said worriedly. "You sound like Kane." Her father said sighing and she thought about the man she had yet to approach. Kane was a very important player on this game. She needed him. "Because he is right." Abby said firmly. "No." Jake said standing up and turning to her. "No, we can't, we can't avoid the truth. We have to let everyone on the Ark put their minds to a solution." He said and Clarke shook her head. That was exactly the same thing he said the last time and it got him killed and the reason 300 people volunteered for the culling.

"What? And risk Anarchy? No, it's too dangerous. Promise me that you will obey the Council's orders, that you'll keep it quiet. Promise me." Her mother said trying to change his mind and Clarke, knowing what she does now, has to agree with her. At least for now, it is the best approach, later they can think of something better. Sometimes, the truth is not what they need. She needed him to see that it was a suicide mission to do this. "I can't." Her father said and Clarke closed her eyes, she admired him and his integrity but sometimes being a martyr was stupid and she would tell him so as soon as she could which would be very, very soon.

"For Clarke. Do it for Clarke." Her mother said, pleading, using her name to try to stop him and though she already knew what he would say, she still waited for her father's words. "I am doing this for Clarke." He said and she shook her head. She heard her mother's steps. "They will float you, Jake. If you do this, I won't be able to stop it." She said and he sighed. "I have to do this." He said and Clarke had enough, she had to stop her Dad from making the video or else he would die again and she would not let that happen. She came out of hiding and she could see they were surprised to see her there. "Sweetie, what..?" her mother was saying but she interrupted and shook her head.

"You don't have to do this, Dad. Not like this."


	12. Second fix

Second fix

"Clarke, what did you hear?" Her mother asked worriedly looking at her. "The oxygen supply is failing and Dad is trying to get himself killed." She said as a matter of fact and he sighed. "Kiddo, that is not…" He tried saying but she interrupted him. "Yes, it is Dad. That is exactly what it is. Come on, Dad. You know Mom is right. The moment you disobey the council, they will float you and imprison me for knowing what I know though they won't do anything to Mom, they need her in MedBay too much to float her too. Is that what you want to accomplish?" she asked as she looked at him but didn't wait for either of them to speak before continuing.

"I know you want to believe that best can come out of people if they know the truth and maybe it will, maybe it will bring us together as one people and the situation can be arranged peacefully but have you considered that there are selfish people and that most of them are in the privileged side? Have you consider that the solution they may find to conserving the oxygen is floating the people the Council judge as expendable just to save more air for themselves? That the working people may get the rough end of this?" she said to him seriously.

"And what should we do, Clarke? Keep it to ourselves? I am no doctor but I know that oxygen deprivation causes disease, blindness. When that starts happening, what are we going to tell them? More lies? False hope?" He asked her. She loved that he always took her seriously and she would use that for good use now. "We will think about something, Jake but Clarke is right. The situation could get worse if people find out and if it doesn't, even if it works, you will die." Abby said and he sighed. "At least it would be because I tried to do the right thing." He said and Clarke shook her head.

"Sometimes, the right thing to do isn't the best thing to do for our people, Dad. Sometimes, we have to do the opposite of what we think is right because it is better for everyone. In a perfect world, I would agree with you, I would even help you do it but we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world where a father trying to get medicine for his sick son becomes a death sentence. We live in a world where any disagreement with the Council can mean a trip to space without return. We live in a broken world, Dad and right and wrong doesn't always apply. They are not quite as black and white as you think. In here, those lines are blurrier than ever." Clarke said as she looked at him in the eyes.

"Just stop for a second and think about how many more lives could you help save if you lived? You're the best engineer in this metal can, Dad. You could do so much more for the people by staying alive than you would dead. Don't you think about me and Mom too, what are we going to do if you die? Can you think about us too?" she said seriously and he sighed. "I am thinking about you." He said but she shook her head. "No, you are not. You are thinking with your heart and I love and admire you for that but it's not the moment for sentimentalism, it is the moment to be practical." She said surprising both of her parents.

"If what you say is true and I know it is because I believe you, we don't have much time. How long before we run out of air?" she asked and her father crossed his arms. "A year. Two, if we can work a miracle." He said and she nodded. "Exactly. So why don't you ask for more hands to help you without actually telling them why? Just pressure the Council to allow you to bring in more engineers to work on fixing the failure, people you trust. I know of two that would be willing to help you. Raven and Sinclair. Between all of you engineers, you can find a solution that will give us more time to think and maybe by then, the council will support your idea to tell the people." She said trying to convince him.

"Just don't defy them like this, Dad. You may think Jaha is your friend but when push comes to shove, he won't hesitate to kill you and imprison me if he thinks that he is doing the right thing for his people, to ensure our survival. No leader would act otherwise in his place. Trust me on this, sometimes hope, a purpose, even if a false one, is better than the truth. Sometimes, it can be exactly what we need." She said as she looked at both of her parents, who were obviously shocked by her show of wisdom, especially her Dad as she waited for him to say something.

"When did you grow up so much?" he said as he smiled at her. "I don't know, Dad. I guess I'm just not that little girl you used to play dolls with anymore. I am the girl that one day when she has a family of her own wants to see her father there by her side, alive and well. I mean it, Dad. I want my kid to know their grandfather, I want you on my wedding. I may not be the little girl anymore but I will always need you. So think about that before you decided to be a stupid martyr and miss all of it because I swear to you, if you die, I will kill you myself." She said seriously and he smiled and so did Abby.

"You can't kill a fly, Clarke but I understood perfectly well the message." He said and she gulped down and thought 'If only you knew that my back is not big enough to hold the number of people I killed' but she pushed that out of her mind for the moment. "Clarke is right, Jake. Please, don't do this. We will find another way out of this mess together like we always did, like you promised me, remember? And I will help Clarke kill you as well if you die." Abby said as she held his hands and pleaded with him. He seemed to be thinking as he alternated between looking at his wife and his daughter.

"Fine. I won't go against the Council." He said and Clarke felt like she could finally breathe. "But I also won't stay with my arms crossed. Something needs to be done about it so I will get more people working on fixing it but I will not defy them or get myself floated, is that okay with the two of you?" he said smiling and they looked at each other before they nodded and both girls moved to hug him as he hugged them both back. Clarke could feel the tears finally making their way down on her face before she pulled back to look at him.

"Dad, promise me you are not going to make me lose you?" she asked in such a small voice, Jake's heart hurt for his little girl, she may be all grown up but she was still his baby girl and he wouldn't want her to go through that pain and Abby either, they didn't deserve it and also she reminded him of what the things he would be missing if he died and he wouldn't do it, like he said he would still try to fix it but he wouldn't die for it so he nodded. "I promise." He said as he kissed her head as well as Abby.

The family stayed like that for a while before Clarke excused herself to give her parents a moment together before they had to go to the dining hall for dinner. "She is becoming a woman now. A very strong one at that." He said and Abby nodded at him. "If she managed to get through your thick head and convinced you not to do this, I would say that she was the strongest one I know." Abby said chuckling and he smiled before he hugged her again and kissed her. "Well, I know who she takes after. After all, I wouldn't have last this long if it wasn't for you too." He said and she smiled.

They went for dinner and tried to make conversation and between her parents worked, they kept talking about Council stuff and also about the glitch though almost in whisper but Clarke's mind was working so fast, almost at the speed of light thinking about what was going to happen and what she can and can't do about it. In the other time, the council alerted the other engineers of the problem and they tried to fix but an accident happened with one of them and it seems like the more people tried to fix the problem, the worse it became and Clarke knew that was going to happen here too so she was a lot more relaxed in regards to the timeline.

Saving her Dad and stopping him is not going to change the fact that the Ark is dying and it will also not change the amount of time they have left because there is someone who has an interest in the Exodus and it is ready to do anything to make that happen and that is Diana and Shunmway and Clarke knows that even if her Dad could manage to fix something, the two of them would find a way to ruin it to push the expedition to Earth forward and she was glad for that. Besides, even with her Dad and the others helping, the glitch is a marker so it is going to happen one way or another so she knew exactly the amount of time she still had to work here.

She was beyond glad and happy that she was able to stop her Dad from doing something stupid and getting himself killed again. Other Clarke had shared her father's belief that the people should know but other Clarke didn't know what it means to be a leader and believed everything would be okay. How wrong was she? Jaha may even agree with her Dad but his position forbid him from being merciful and Clarke will be damned if she sees her Dad on the floating platform again. She kills Jaha first if it comes to that. She will not lose her Dad a second time. No way.

But there was still something she needed to do to make sure that didn't happen and she would, she didn't come all this way to do things halfway. So when they got back to their quarters which was not that big as it seemed when she had never been to Earth, Jake went to take a bath while Abby finished tying up some work and Clarke took that opportunity to talk to her mother. "Mom?" she asked approaching. "Yes, sweetie?" she said turning to her daughter. "Is something wrong, honey? Is this about what we talked to your Dad today?" Abby asked as Clarke came to stand in front of her.

"Yes, I need you to promise something in regards to that too." She said and Abby raised one eyebrow at that. "And what is that?" she asked and Clarke sighed. "Promise you won't tell Jaha about what Dad wanted to do." She said firmly looking right at her mother's eyes. "Why, sweetie? Thelonious is your father's best friend, just like Wells is yours." She said and Clarke nodded. "But Wells is not the Chancellor, Mom. Jaha is and he has responsibilities and if he thinks Dad is a threat or can be a threat, do you honestly believe that he will not float his best friend to keep order?" Clarke said as she stared at Abby.

"He is not going to show mercy to Dad just because he is his friend. I will talk to Dad and make him promise that too. You can't trust Jaha on this, not with Dad's life. Promise me Mom. Please." She said worriedly and waited for Abby to digest what she said and after a few seconds, her mom looked at her and nodded. "I promise I won't tell Thelonious about this." She said and Clarke sighed relieved, she hugged her mom tightly and then proceeded to do the same thing with her Dad and luckily for her, he agreed too though he was harder to convince.

Then, while lying down on her bed, there was something that Clarke was thinking of doing that accelerates her plan in regards to this particular issue but she believes is the right moment to do it for many, many reasons. She will wake up one of her allies. She needs at least one of them awaken by her side, especially now that she changed her father's death and needs help to stay it that way besides she thinks that the time will help this particular ally so she made up her mind. Tomorrow, she will trigger…

Mission – Save her father : success


	13. Wake up

Wake up, sleepyhead

The next day, she woke feeling more relieved and more determinate to fix everything that she could fix than when she started on this journey and of course, knowing she had already done something useful to accomplish that and deviated her father from his certain death, it could really boost the needed encouragement of a daughter on a mission such as herself. She had breakfast with her parents as she always does it and she talked to them about how she made new friends, who they were and everything, something they were really happy about it since she only ever had Wells. Her father even teased her about them again and her love life and they laughed at his jokes and it was very nice to have all of that again.

Then after breakfast was over and they went their separate ways, Clarke went to school and met with Wells and Murphy as the three of them walked to class together. It kind of became their thing to sit together during classes, with Clarke sitting in the middle of the two boys. She was really glad about the fact that Murphy and Wells became such good friends, that alone made her really, really, really happy. The best part of the morning was seeing Pike's face when he realized what kind of friends his least favorite student had now. The son of the Chancellor and the daughter of the chief doctor and head engineer. Two of the top kids with the most important set of parents in the entire population of the Ark.

Clarke had a smirk on her face when she saw him look at them and realize they were Murphy's friend now as if she was daring him to treat Murphy the same way he did before, like he was nothing, she wanted to see him try that in her face to see what was coming for him. It was a smirk that had so many things she wanted to say to him hidden behind it that sometimes during class, Clarke would think she was about to explode and say to his face everything she didn't had the chance to say it before, like for instance, you are a crazy psychopath who is the reason the woman I love had to die once or I will not let you harm anyone again, you sick son of a bitch but she kept it in. Now was not the time for that, she needed to be cautious with her actions, everything needed to follow the plan.

But for now, she was content he got the message to leave her friend alone or else he will regret it. It would be so easy to frame him for something and get him killed, that way every harmful thing he did on the ground would not happen again but she knew she couldn't. Farm Station would need him to help them survive so she kept her own vengeful desires to herself for the moment. And as for the other teachers, they were pretty much the same but he was the one she focused on. Murphy also had a smirk on his face while facing the Earth Skills' teacher, so much that he couldn't contain himself, he chuckled a bit and so did Clarke before the two stopped.

During lunch, they couldn't hold their laughter in while retelling the story to Raven who also laughed as did Wells though much more contained than the other three. He didn't like Pike but he was also not the type of person to laugh at others even when he disliked them and when questioned it about it by Raven, his answer was. "He is a jerk, even I think that." After he said that, they laughed even harder and that is how they spent their lunch together, then Clarke said goodbye telling them she needed to visit her Aunt and the other two were confused but since Wells knew who she was talking about, she left him to explain it to them before she made her way through the halls until she came to stop in front of the quarters. She knocked three times and a woman opened the door.

"Clarke!" The woman said before hugging the blonde girl tightly, who smiled while hugging her back. "Aunt Callie." She said happy to see the woman again. Callie was her mother's best friend, her godmother and someone she considered family and she is also married to Kane, the ally she will help awake today. In the other timeline, she didn't like him at all and with reason, pre-sector 17 Kane was a self-serving jackass but not anymore. Contributing to the death of so many of their people had stirred something deep within the man and he became the voice of reason between their people, the one person Clarke could trust to lead their people on the ground in a fair, just and trustable way without the idiotic motions that people like Jaha and Pike wanted to install on their mind about their people and how to deal with grounders.

"It's been so long since we've seen each other." Callie said as she made way for Clarke to come in to which she did and for Clarke, it had been more than 2 years. She had learnt that she hadn't survived from her mother and it hurt very much but she was glad she would be able to change that. "It has only been a week." Clarke said despite the truth and she nodded. "Exactly. Too long without seeing my favorite godchild." She said smiling gently and Clarke smiled back at her. "I'm the only one you have." And they laughed as they got inside her quarters.

Clarke would always come to see Callie at least once a week, always when Kane wasn't home and leave as he arrived, to avoid much contact and interaction between them, though today she had other plans for the two of them but before that comes to pass, she would enjoy her time with her aunt who was also her confident. Callie was the first person she told about everything that happened to her and she would always give her advice. Of course Clarke had Wells and her parents who she was very close with but Callie was like her best girl friend so they were things she felt more comfortable talking to her first than with the other three.

And even now, having Raven to do that with and share to kind of things, she still felt that connection to her Aunt and that need to talk to her about everything that is going on in her life even knowing she can't tell her about the ground and all of that, since Becca said it was a very bad idea to do so and she wasn't willing to risk this second chance for that, but still. Callie was the first to know about her first boyfriend, first girlfriend. She was someone she could trust and also someone she vowed to keep alive and she believed so would Kane. They sat down on the metal seat they called couch.

"So, what is going on? Tell me everything." Callie said and although Clarke couldn't tell her everything that was happening with her, because of her and around her because how do you explain mind time travelling but she told her everything that she could speak about. She told her about Murphy, how she reached out to him, part of the reason why and how they became friends, about Raven as well, she didn't tell her about the 'issue' with her parents, which would be her father's discovery and almost death but Clarke told her about Pike and how badly he treated Murphy before and also about the conversation she plans to have with Wells about his feelings for her.

"I think is a very good idea to talk to him and I for one agree that the faster he knows he doesn't have a chance with you in the romantic way, the sooner he can heal though I doubt he will be angry with you. In fact, I doubt he already doesn't know that you don't feel that way about him and that is why he hasn't spoken about his own feelings to you, either by fear of rejection or because he is scared he will lose you as a friend if you found out." She said and Clarke nodded as she remembered when Finn pointed out to her Wells' feelings but at that moment she was still so angry with him she didn't care whether he was hurt or not but now it was different. Now, she hated the thought of hurting him even if for his own good.

"I have known about his feelings for me for years and I used to pretend I don't know even to myself, I would just ignore the truth altogether, you know? But what kind of friend am I if I do that to him? If I disregard his feelings like that? No, I decided I needed to do right by him and needed to face it all and I have faith that we can come out of this even stronger friends than before, right?" She asked and Callie smiled. "That is very mature and sensible of you, Clarke. I'm proud of this decision and I am proud of the beautiful woman you are becoming. It was just yesterday when I first held you right after Abby gave birth and look at you now. God, I feel so old." Callie said dramatically and Clarke laughed.

"You are old." She said and received a pinch as answer. "No, I am not and you shut up. You will get to be my age one day too. We'll see how you feel about being called old then." She said and Clarke laughed and soon she joined in as well. "But tell me something, is there a boy or a girl that caught your eye recently?" She asked and Clarke's mind immediately went to a certain Commander and she started wondering what she was doing but she quickly focused again and shook her head. "No one has caught my eye yet and I honestly don't feel like doing relationship right now. I just want to enjoy my time with my friends and my family and when the right person comes along, it will all work out." She said smiling and so did Callie.

They continued talking about what has been going on with Callie's life, her work and everything until they heard the door open and close and Clarke steeled herself before she turned to see Kane. It was weird seeing him like this, without the beard and that warm and welcome feeling he had with him since she first saw him again after coming to the ground instead of this cold person that was standing in front of her now but she had planned to wake that up on him today and by the looks of it, it should be very, very soon. "Honey, you're home." Callie said and he nodded before he noticed Clarke. "Hello, Clarke." He said in a cold tone that didn't fit his image to her anymore but she nodded. "Hello, Kane." She said.

"We were talking and didn't notice the hours." Callie said as she stood up to kiss him and he kissed her back. Clarke was never really a witness t their relationship, always choosing to have as little contact with him as possible but she wondered if it had been the same as it had been with her mother, though that would not be a possibility anymore. "It is not that late. I just came back from the council meeting today, it was a shot one so I decided to come home earlier but I will leave you two to continue talking." He said and Callie nodded and he was about to leave when Clarke seized her chance and she stood up. "Kane, I wanted to ask you something." She said as they both looked at her. He was more surprised than Callie since she usually didn't talk to him that much but he nodded anyway.

"I was telling Callie about how one of the teachers used to treat my friend badly. Is there some law against that kind of behavior?" she asked him innocently to make a start on the conversation until she could get to the point and he seemed to think before shaking his head. "Not that I can remember." He said and she nodded. "Perhaps you should try to give him a second chance to do better. Maybe he won't be that bad now." Callie said smiling and Clarke nodded. This was it. "Maybe. Maybe all he needs is a chance at redemption, right?" she said as she stared at him and as soon as she said the word, she saw him freeze and his eyes open wide and she knew it was working.

Callie was saying something but she wasn't paying attention, she was waiting for the process to finish and once it did, she could see her Kane. His gaze though confused was the same warm and welcoming one she remembered. They just stared at each other before Callie broke the stare. "What do you think, honey?" she said and captured his attention and as he looked at her, he was overwhelmed by emotions that all he could do was hug her very tight surprising her as Clarke observed and smiled. Finally, he was back and would of help for her now as well as a good confident given he is the only one who remembers, for now at least.

"Hey. Is something wrong?" Callie asked him, worried about his behavior and he shook her head. "No, nothing. I just wanted to hug you." He said before he pulled back and looked at her smiling. "I think I should be going." Clarke said breaking the moment between the couple and they looked at her. "Are you going home? Alone?" Callie asked and Kane stepped up. "I will take her. I remembered there was something I need to ask Thelonious, I will take the opportunity and go see him." He said and Callie smiled. "Thank you, honey. You okay with it, Clarke?" she asked and the blonde girl nodded.

"Of course." She said as she grabbed her bag and went towards the door after hugging and saying goodbye to Callie while Kane kissed Callie with promises he wouldn't be late and followed the blonde girl out and once the door was closed and they noticed that the hall was almost empty, they hugged. "Oh God." He said and she chuckled. "Welcome back, Kane. I missed you." They pulled back as he swept his hair back. "It really happened. We are really back." He said lowly for her to hear and she nodded. "I thought the same thing when I woke up too." She said smiling at his awed expression.

"Did you wake up any of the others? Murphy and Raven?" He asked and she shook her head. "Only you." She answered honestly. "How long have you been awake?" he asked. "About a week." She answered and he nodded. "Have you changed anything?" he asked and she nodded. "I stopped Murphy from being arrested, made friends with him and Raven who I met when I went to work with my Dad who I also stopped from dying just yesterday." She said and explained what happened and how she stopped him and Kane was surprised at how much she changed in one week. "Yeah, today was the day Jake made the video and was floated." He said and she nodded. "Yes and also the day I was imprisoned in the Skybox for treason." She said.

"But it didn't happen." He said and she nodded. "No, and he promised he wouldn't go against the Council and he never broke a promise to me before so I know he won't do it this time. And as for me, I will have to find another way to get imprisoned and when the mission is sanctioned, I will need your help to put my name on the list of the 100 kids." She said and he nodded. "I figured and don't worry, I have a plan for that. I wasn't sure when you were going to wake me up but I had a hunch that would be before that so I made a few plans ahead of time and had a few ideas of my own." He said as they continued walking.

"I am sorry." She said gently and he looked at her. "For what?" he asked confused about what she would be sorry for and she sighed. "You and my mom." She said as she looked at him and he smiled comfortingly at her. "Like I told your mother one day, if I could have brought Jake back, I would have. And now that she has him, I am so happy for her and I also get another chance to be a better husband to my wife and save her this time. Don't worry about me and don't worry about me meddling in your parents' relationship, that won't happen in a million years." He said and she nodded.

"I know. You are a good man, Kane. And I am sure that even my Dad would have approved of you. I know I did." She said and he nodded. "Thank you but I am happy to be uncle Kane and not your stepdad. I mean it, Clarke. It makes me extremely happy that your Dad is alive and well." He said and she nodded. "Thank you, but I need a favor from you." She said and he nodded. "Of course, whatever you need." He said. "Can you find me a compartment here where I can train? I don't want to spend all of the time I have left in this place without exercising even because when we go down, it will come in handy." She said and he nodded smiling.

"Don't worry, I will. After all, you were not the only one who got trained, remember?" he said and chuckled and so did she. They arrived at her family's quarters and she turned to him. "It's good to have you with me." she said and he smiled. "You can count with me for anything." He said and she nodded. "I know which is why I have a mission for you." She said and explained what she wanted form him earning herself a chuckle and a nod. "You don't even have to ask. It will be my pleasure." He said and she smiled, they said goodbye and then opened the door getting inside as he made his way back to his wife.

Mission – wake up Kane : success


	14. One More

One more

The next day, when she wakes up, she is feeling really good. So far everything has been working out fine for her and she hoped it would continue going on that way. Her talk with Kane and the simple fact that she is not alone anymore is enough to brighten her mood. Now, she has finally someone she can talk to not only about the ground but also about Lexa and how she misses her and all of that. They still had to talk about a lot, Kane had said he had some idea of his own and she was hoping she could hear what they were soon enough so they could make an even better plan that the one she came up so far.

And also waking up and knowing that her father is safe and sound outside of her room that she can go out and know that he hasn't gone anywhere, that he has not made the video, that he was not floated, well, that is just the best feeling in the world to her right now and she would make sure that he would stay that way, alive and well, especially when they come down to Earth. Somehow she had a feeling her Dad will take a while to adept to the ground and the cruelty down that could be found down there coming from their own people sometimes so she vowed to herself to ease him into it since she has more experience around the subject.

Today, she had two very important tasks to do given that she had talked to Kane and he would covering his part of the mission as well and he had said that he would be there to help her if she needed anything. The most important thing she had to do was that she needed to have the talk with Wells. She prolonged the moment it would happen only because she had her father to save and everything regarding to that specific subject but now that that mission is covered and a success, she finally had the time to do it and she owed it to him after everything he had always done for her and today was the day. They had agreed to play chess today and it was a good opportunity, one she wouldn't miss.

And the second task of the day and the most difficult one in her mind was to find Charlotte and befriend her as well, the same way she did with Raven and Murphy. From the files provided by Becca to her, of the people she deemed important to meddle in their life, Clarke read on Charlotte's that she was imprisoned 6 months after Clarke did and since Clarke was imprisoned the day before in the other timeline, it means that she has 6 months to make Charlotte so attached to Wells, that the thought of killing him wouldn't pass her mind, that she would consider him a friend and wouldn't hurt him.

It wouldn't be a problem because unlike with Raven and Murphy who she didn't know how would react to him and if they would give him a chance or if he would be comfortable with them, Wells was very good with kids much like Clarke herself so she knew that if she brought Charlotte in their little group, the two of them would grow close even without her interference. So that was her plan for the day. She woke up to find a note from both of her parents attached to her door. Apparently, her mother was called in very early for a surgery and her father had to go to work earlier too so she was alone for breakfast today.

She got ready, grabbed her stuff and went to the dining hall and just as she entered the line, she saw that, in a strike of sheer dumb luck, Charlotte was the one right in front of her and she knew this was her chance to start her mission with the girl so she started a conversation. "From what I've seen, it's veggie soup today. I wouldn't eat that if I were you. It's disgusting." She said to the little girl who looked back at her and smiled as she smiled back. "You think so too?" she said in a small voice and Clarke nodded as they stepped forward.

"Of course, I haven't eaten that grease thing in years. I always leave it behind in the plate. Seriously, it tastes like it was brewed inside someone's smelly boots." Clarke said making a joke and the girl laughed quietly. "Hi, I'm Clarke." She said smiling gently and warmly at the young girl and extended her hand and the little girl shook it. "I'm Charlotte." She said as she got her food and Clarke got hers too. "Where are your parents?" Clarke asked wondering why they were not there. "They start working before I wake up so I always have breakfast by myself." Charlotte said and Clarke shook her head.

"Well, not anymore. Today, we can eat together since I am also having breakfast by myself but if you want to, you can join me and my parents tomorrow. We would love to have one more person. And I would certainly like a little backup because when my dad starts teasing me, he just won't stop." She said warmly trying not to scare the girl away as they sat down on one of the empty tables, facing each other and continued talking as they started to eat everything except the veggie soup because it truly was disgusting, Clarke wasn't lying about that.

"Wouldn't it be weird? And awkward? And a bother? You don't even know me. We just met." The little girl asked and Clarke smiled shaking her head. "My Dad doesn't know the meaning of those words, weird and awkward, and my mom is very lovely, she wouldn't mind having you join us at all. I am sure by tomorrow they will prefer you over me. You're cuter and younger, they will definitely like you more than they like me. And as for us, well, I would love to get to know you, Charlotte." She said and Charlotte smiled. She was glad she could get to know the girl before the dropship and the nightmares started hunting her.

"Well, if you're sure it's okay." Charlotte said in almost a whisper and Clarke nodded her head excitedly. "Of course so for us to get to know each other, you have to tell me about you. How old are you?" She asked and the girl smiled. "I'm 11, almost 12 and you?" she asked and Clarke smiled as they continued eating. "I am turning 17 next month." She said and the girl smiled. "Do you have many friends?" she asked and Charlotte shook her head. "No, I am very shy so I'm not very good at making friends or keeping them. Do you have many?" She asked shyly and Clarke smiled.

"I used to have only one friend but just recently I got two more and now you, I hope." She said and they both smiled as Clarke decided to start pushing forward her plan. "One of my friends is Wells, Jaha's son." Clarke said mentioning him and Charlotte stopped eating and looked at her in shock. "Really?" she asked surprised and Clarke nodded. "You know, people think that because he is Jaha's son, he is a jerk like his Dad but he is actually a very nice and sweet guy. He used to make me toys when we were kids and he would get painting supplies for me. He is a very nice friend and one of the most loyal people I have ever met in my life. I am very lucky to be his friend." She said truthfully and Charlotte nodded.

"I think he looks like a nice person." She said shyly and Clarke nodded smiling at her, trying to encourage good thought on Wells. "He is and our friend Murphy teases him all the time, he only calls him Junior as in Jaha Junior and Wells hates it so much. A few days ago, Murphy called him that and they chased each other around until they fell down on the floor chuckling and fighting. Raven and I laughed so hard." She said and Charlotte smiled. "We always sit down to eat lunch together. Do you want to join us? They would surely like you but you have to be ready for heavy teasing at least one time every hour." She said and Charlotte looked at her confusedly.

"You really want to be my friend?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "Of course, I do. I like you, you're cool for an almost 12 year old and besides there is no such a thing as too many friends." She said sincerely and Charlotte felt it so she nodded her head smiling. They also finished breakfast so they stood up and dumped their trash together. And they said goodbye with a promise to see each other during lunch. Clarke watched the girl leave and noticed she had a big smile on her face and that made a similar one appear on her own.

The rest of the day was pretty much the same. Classes were boring for her because she already covered everything she needed to know and to be honest, after her experience some of these classes seem completely frivolous and unnecessary and completely and utterly boring to death. What they really need to know is how to survive on the ground and the only class who comes close to teaching them that is Earth Skills but even then how does someone who has never been to Earth teach Earth Skills to someone who also has never been to Earth? That is a complete oxymoron, if she ever heard one.

The classes were interesting but every time she sees Pike, all she can see is that field of bodies, 300 dead grounders for nothing, because he is a xenophobic asshole. But not this time. Not this time, she thought. Then lunch time came and as usual, Raven was the first one there and the three of them sat down after greeting each other. They were talking and Murphy and Raven were discussing which one of the guards on duty was the biggest this, the biggest that. Clarke wasn't really paying attention though she could hear Wells laughing, she was waiting for Charlotte and when she saw the girl, she waved at her to come to where she was and the little girl did very shyly.

"Guys. I have someone to introduce to you." Clarke said calling them and grabbing their attention away from their jokes as the young girl came to her side to which Clarke stood up and hugged her and pulled her to her side. "Guys, this is Charlotte, my newest friend. Charlotte, this is Wells, Murphy and Raven." She said as she pointed at them as she introduced each one. "Seriously, by next month, Clarke will be the best friend of the entire Ark." Murphy said shaking his head and Raven elbowed him. "Shut up, dickhead." Clarke said to him and he scoffed before shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't listen to him, Charlotte. Murphy is the idiot one in the group." Wells said gently to her before subtly kicking the other guy's leg under to table to which Murphy hissed at him and muttered something underneath his breath. Wells didn't pay attention to him as he smiled at her sweetly to which Clarke sent a silent thank you to him. "Yeah, we all have our roles. Murphy is the idiot one, I am the smart, in reality genius, one. Wells is the kind one and Clarke is the bossy one." Raven said and Charlotte laughed. "I am not bossy." Clarke said pretending to be hurt and all of them laughed and nodded. "Yes, you are." They said even Charlotte seemed to agree with that one and she just laughed.

"You know what? You are all mean, a very mean group of people. Traitors, really." She said jokingly with a serious face. "Well, we would love for you to join us, Charlotte." Wells said inviting her. "Yeah, kid. Sit down." Murphy said curtly. "That is his limit of niceness, better get used to it." Raven explained as Clarke helped Charlotte sit in between her and Wells. "Well, since you are part of the group now, your role will be the cute one. Okay?" Clarke said and the girl nodded. "Okay." She said as she smiled.

"Now, can you help me make sense on what the hell those two idiots that I dare call best friends over there are talking about for the past 20 minutes? Because I haven't got the first clue in what crazy world are they living in right now." She said as she pointed at Murphy and Raven. "Hey, I meant it. Gerard is a jackass. I mean, who even names their kid Gerard? That is a jackass name, right there sister." Raven said as everyone laughed and Murphy butted in. "Johnson is the problem, I am telling you. The guy's photo is attached on the definition of dickhead in the dictionary." They continued their banter and Clarke was happy to see Wells and Charlotte talking as well and she was proud of her accomplishments so far.

They said goodbye to each other, with a promise from Charlotte to join Clarke and her parents for breakfast tomorrow and then Wells and Clarke went to the room shared by what could be called the 'privileged' kids. It made her feel bad that they got to have a nice room for themselves and the others couldn't enjoy it. It was a proof of the reason why Finn nicknamed her the princess and Bellamy nicknamed Wells, the prince, they really were treated differently, at least in what came to stuff like this. They sat down on their usual table and started their game. "How did you meet Charlotte?" he asked her as he made his first move and moved a pawn. She looked at the board and studied it before moving her own piece and answering.

"She was standing in front of me and we started talking." She explained what they talked about during breakfast to which he laughed and asked her. "Really, Clarke? Veggie soup?" He said and she pouted at him. "Shut up. I wasn't lying though, that thing is disgusting." She said and he chuckled before he nodded at her. "She seems very nice." He said and she nodded before she took a deep breath. "She is and I knew you guys would like her too and I was right." She said and he nodded as they continued playing. "Clarke, there is something I need to tell you and you can't tell anyone about it." He said and she found those lines very familiar.

"Of course I won't, you can tell me." she said and he looked around. "I overheard my Dad talking with Kane yesterday and there is a problem in the oxygen supply. Your Dad found out and he doesn't think it can be fixed." He said and she was surprised, this time Wells hadn't been told by her, he already knew, could that be because of the changes she made? She didn't know so she just replied to him. "Yeah, I know. I overheard my parents talking about it. I was about to tell you that too." She said and she really was. Maybe, in the other timeline, Wells would have found out if she hadn't told him which is what happened.

"Do you really think it can't be fixed?" he asked her worriedly and she shrugged, despite knowing the answer to that and not being able to tell him. "I don't know. My Dad thinks he can buy us a little more time and he is planning on getting people to help him but I'm not sure if there is a permanent solution to the problem or if the clock is ticking and the Ark is really dying on us." She said and he nodded understandingly. "What will we do then? If the Ark is dying? How will our people survive it?" he asked and she lied. "I have no idea."

'Send a 100 kids to the ground because they are expendable' she thought somewhat bitterly about it even though she wasn't opposed to it anymore, the 100 became a family, which she missed but she kept quiet about her own thoughts. "Check-mate" Wells called and Clarke smiled. She had missed this between them, this easiness and now she was about to break this moment. She took a deep breath and faced him. "Wells, there is something I want to, no, something I need to talk to you about it. I should have done it before but I never had the courage to do it but it's time." She said and he looked at her and nodded as she said it.

"We need to talk about your feelings for me."

Mission – befriend Charlotte : success


	15. Corny or not

Corny or not?

"What?" He said shocked, he was definitely not expecting that to be what she wanted to talk about, he didn't even think she knew and she sighed. "Exactly what you heard, Wells. Come on, we are not kids anymore, we can't keep pretending that you don't have romantic feelings for me and that I know about them. It's time we talk about it." She said it softly and he lowered his head and she hated seeing him like that. Her friend was bright and optimistic, not dejected and sad and she hated she was the cause of it but it was better to rip the wound open to let it heal in a healthy way.

"Since when?" He asked in a small voice. "Since when I knew?" she asked softly and he nodded still without looking at her, without the confidence to do so. "I will tell you if you look me in the eye." She said firmly and by her tone of voice he knew there was not the option of refusing so he did and looked up to her and she smiled at him in a gentle way. "I guess I started noticing after my 12th birthday. I thought you were going to confess to me and when you didn't, I just pushed it away and pretended it wasn't like that and I am sorry. It was a shitty thing to do." She said and he shook his head.

"You have nothing to apologize for." He said as he picked up one of the piece ad played with it and she smiled at him. "I was, you know? Going to confess to you that day but I noticed how you looked at Matt and I knew you didn't feel the same way about me so I chickened out and never said anything about it." He said as he gave her a sad smile. "You would have made a better boyfriend than Matt, that's for sure." She joked and he chuckled. "Anyone would have been better than him. He was the worst." He said and she nodded.

Matt Anderson was her first boyfriend, he was one year older than her and he confessed to her a little after her birthday, that same one. Wells never liked him and not only because he liked her too but because he didn't trust the boy. Turns out he was right, within 5 months of dating, Clarke found out Matt was cheating on her with a girl who was the daughter of one of the Council men. She broke up with him and was extremely sad, her first heartbreak. Wells was by her side and comforted her. Later, she found out he was cheated on by the same girl twice. Karma is a bitch.

"You did surprise me with Emily." He said and she laughed. Last year in this timeline, she met a girl named Emily who was the first girl she was interested in and also when she figured out she liked girls as well as boys and she found out that the girl liked her back so they got together, her parents were supportive and all but it also didn't last long. Emily was 3 years older and wanted for them to be intimate and Clarke didn't want it. She didn't feel comfortable yet with the idea of losing her virginity which led to fights and eventually they broke up. Clarke was heartbroken but not as much as she was angry.

"I surprised myself with that one too. No girl had ever peaked my interest before her but I was lucky that everyone was so accepting of it. Including you." She said and he nodded. "All I want is for you to be happy, Clarke. Why wouldn't I support you?" he said and she smiled and nodded before she took a deep breath. "Look Wells, I love you, I really do but not in that way and it will not change. And I know you will be hurt by this but it's better if you hear it from me once and for all. I am so sorry, you know you're the last person I wanted to hurt but we can't change the way we feel. I understand if you need some time away from me, I completely get it. I will give you all the space you need." She said and he shook his head.

"Do you know why I never said anything?" he asked and she shook her head. "Because I always knew how you felt, I always knew that you didn't and wouldn't feel that way about me and I made my peace with that, Clarke a long time ago, probably ever since I started having those feelings in the first place. More than anything else, you're my best friend and if those relationships you had proved anything was that our friendship is stronger than anything. I am not angry with you and I am not that hurt because I know that I will always have you as my friend, won't I?" he said and smiled and she held his hand.

"You can bet you are never getting rid of me, Jaha." She said as a matter of fact. She had pushed him away before when she blamed him but she wouldn't do that again and he laughed as he squeezed her hand. "I wouldn't dream of it, Griffin." He said and she laughed. That is one of the things she loved and missed about Wells, his comprehensive side. He always knew what to say to make you feel better. She was never able to master that ability, though for him, it was a natural gift. "Now that we understand each other, why don't we go for another round?" he asked and he nodded.

"Oh, I am kicking your sorry ass this time. Get ready." She said as he laughed and rearranged the pieces and they continued to play for a while more until it was time for them to go. They parted ways as she walked back to her family's quarters. She was thankful for having Wells back in her life and grateful that the talk went on so well and that she wasn't losing him, she really didn't want to lose her best friend. It was so hard finding his body and burying him especially after how badly she treated him.

She guessed that somehow deep down, she had known it had been her mother but she couldn't face it and it was so much easier to hate him and he let her, he never denied because he also knew that it would be easier for her to deal with her best friend betraying her than her mother and he was such a loyal friend even when she was such a shitty one, that moment they had with Finn running from the acid fog, she had been such a bitch, she didn't even recognized that person. He had deserved better and she would be a better friend for him. That was a promise she intended to keep.

She was passing by the big window there was on the Ark when she turned to look at the view it had of the Earth and it made her stop on her track. She turned and walked closer to it and she put her hand against the railing as if it could bring her closer to Lexa who was down there. Her mind was filled with thoughts of the moments they spent together down there and in the Valley and her heart clenched with the longing she felt to be in those arms again. She was so lost in her thought she didn't hear someone approach until she turned to see Kane lean his back against the window before she looked back at the planet.

"Lexa?" he asked as he had a knowing smile on his face and she nodded smiling sadly back at him. "I never thought it was possible to love someone this much and miss them even more." She said and he nodded as he crossed his arms. It had been obvious to him as well as to Abby the depth of the feelings brewing between those two even before there was the confession that Clarke made in front of everyone while they were trapped in the cell in Polis just before she was taken to see Roan.

"I miss how she smells. Like rainy forest and pine trees." She said smiling and he smiled. "Even when I thought I hated her, when I would find myself blaming her for everything that had gone wrong inside the Mountain even when the image of her leaving burned inside my mind, I had wanted so desperately for her to be there and just hold me in her arms and never let go. I hated myself for feeling that way, for needing her so much, for wanting and loving her with desperation so I closed it all in a part of my mind that I didn't dare go to." Clarke said shakily looking at the Earth.

"When I first saw her again, I pushed her away, trying to hold onto my anger at her, trying to keep her away from my heart, from my mind, my soul." Clarke said and wiped a tear that fell on her face. "It was pointless, of course." She chuckled. "I only understood why when I saw her body bleeding on that bed and not being able to save her. The reason why I could never push her away, the real truth of why she was so inevitable to me is because I had loved her with all my heart and with everything I am since the first second I saw her sitting on her throne and I know with 300% of certainty that I will never stop loving her even after my death." She said before she turned to look at him.

"Have you ever loved someone like this, Kane? My mom or Callie, anyone?" She asked him and he smiled. "I have loved both of those women and I will tell you that what I felt for them both has never come close to what you are just describing to me and from what I can see in your eyes when you speak about her. It was clear to your mother and I from the moment we saw the two of you in TonDC." He said and she smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we never could really be subtle, I guess." She said and they laughed.

"She is an awesome person and a wonderful leader. Did she ever tell how we met?" He asked and she turned to him and shook her head curious to know that story. "Thelonious and I were trapped in TonDC for hours, I had gone to seek peace with them and he was captured, when suddenly, a bunch of scary tall looking men entered, Gustus in front, he was wearing the shoulder pad and he told us about the massacre in the village and threw a knife at us saying one of us must die by the hands of the other." He said as she listened attentively to a story about her love.

"Then suddenly, this small girl in scrap clothes carrying a pot of water and walking with a limp appeared from behind him, she didn't even managed to lift her head and look at us in the eye. She looked so scared. He spoke to her in their language which now I know what it was he said. 'Fetch us when it is done.' Then he left and she sat down away from us. After a while, Thelonious went to her side and she curled up as she whispered her name and told us about the massacre and their custom and very softly she said that if we didn't use the knife, the Commander would use it to slit both of our throats." He said and she chuckled.

"She is such a drama queen." She said fondly and he nodded. "Then I cut myself because I believed it was the only way to save our people but Thelonious wrapped the cut and took the knife and held it against her throat. Soon enough the guards came in, then she told them that he was hers then she disarmed him and threw him on his back and then she revealed herself as the Commander. She had her men free me and beat Thelonious and then she and I talked a lot about peace. She was, she is special. You chose well, Clarke." He said and she smiled as she looked to her side.

"It's not a choice, Kane. Being with her is the easiest thing I have ever done and also the most addictive experience I ever had. The more time I spent with her, the more it didn't feel like it was enough. I need her like you need air to breathe. She is the one for me. I miss her so much it hurts." She said as she turned to look at him and smiled. "If you ever told me I would come to love someone this much, I would tell you it isn't possible to love another person like this but it is possible and my love for her grows every day, even when we are miles apart." She said as she felt the tears coming up again.

"I knew that I loved her on our first kiss before we went to face Mount Weather, before Bellamy sent the signal that he had disabled the acid fog. I was just such a mess with what happened to Finn, Bellamy was inside that place putting his life at risk to help us on my orders, our people in danger of being drained for their bone marrow, it was so much happening at the time that I just couldn't deal with the intensity of my feelings for her so I told her I wasn't ready to be with anyone yet but it wouldn't have taken long for me to let it go and just be with her. But I couldn't not at the time and then, well, you know what happened later." she said and he nodded.

"Yeah but despite it, like I have said before what you two have is something I have never seen between two people, Clarke. I truly believe you two were made for each other. Anyone could see that." He said and she nodded. "It's funny. In the other timeline, I used to come to this window whenever I was sad, whenever I need a boost, whenever I need to feel good and at peace, all I needed was to look at the Earth and everything would feel, would be better. Sometimes I think that it was because somehow, someway, I could feel her. My soul could feel hers. Despite the distance, she made it all better like she always does. Do I sound corny?" She asked and he shook his head.

"You sound like a young girl was is completely and madly in love and there is nothing corny about it. It is one of the most beautiful and meaningful experience that we can have in our lives. And don't worry, soon enough you will be together again. Just hold on for a little longer." He said and she nodded as she wiped the tears that fell down. "So what of what we talked about? Any progress?" She asked and he smiled. "Well, I took the first step towards it today. It was a little awkward but I believe that it will work." He said and she nodded. "It needs to. It can be very important to change what happened." She said and he nodded.

"You're doing well, Clarke. I really believe that. I believe in you. You will succeed in this mission and I am glad I can help you." He said and she smiled. "Thank you. It means a lot, Kane." She said and he smiled as he left her alone. She stood there for a little longer admiring the view and reminiscing their last meeting in the Valley and Lexa's last words to her. "I am never saying goodbye to you either." She said to the window as she hoped somehow the message would get to Lexa before she left and went back.

Down on Earth, in the capitol of Polis, someone was in the balcony of her room after a particular tiring day of discussion and meetings and was looking up at the Sky searching for something she didn't know what it was but who she knew was missing and somehow was hidden as a secret by the stars. Lexa always did this, she used to wonder why she liked staring at the sky so much ever since she was a child but she could never come up with a good reason so she just accepted. She looked up one more time before she turned back and went inside and went to sleep to dream of a blonde girl without seeing her face.


	16. Expending the family tree

Expending the family tree

It was very weird and strange for Clarke to adjust to waking up knowing it was morning but without the sunrays and the sunlight to warn her about the coming of another day but rather only a clock by the side of her bed that simply showed her that it was time to wake up. Things like this, that someone would think so unimportant or trivial or meaningless, but when you experience it and lose it then it can actually bother you to not have them anymore. There were so many things Clarke missed about Earth, the planet itself, besides of course, the obvious answer which was her girlfriend.

She missed the pure air unlike the fabricated one of the Ark, she missed the green of the forest, the smell of the dirt, the roughness of the trees, the sounds of birds singing, she missed the water and the rivers, the ones without monsters, of course. She missed riding a horse, she missed staring at the horizon, and she missed watching the sun rise and set every day. She missed the feeling of rain falling down on her face. But most of all she missed the freedom Earth provided. She couldn't wait to get back there even with the knowledge of the things she doesn't miss but will have to face it one more time.

The war, the deaths, the guilt, the shame, the pain, the self-hate and the likes of it, those were things she did not miss but she learned not to take everything that happened to her only for the downside of it. Unintentionally or not, consciously or not, even in the worst situations, there was a lesson for her to learn, to help shape her into the person she has become. At times, she couldn't see past the bad things but there was a silver lining, she just never let herself see it. Even with Lexa's death, there was a lesson to be learnt and she hoped she did.

She got ready for the day and met with her parents who were waiting for her as they walked out of their quarters and in the direction of the dining hall. "Guys, there is something I need to ask you." She said as her Dad hugged her one side, "What is it, Kiddo?" he asked and she looked at them both. "I have a friend, her name is Charlotte. She is 11 years old and her parents always go to work early so she always eat by herself so I asked her if she wanted to eat with us from now on. Is it okay?" She asked as she waited for their answer.

"Of course it is, sweetie. I know who she is. I treated her when she got the flu. I always thought it must be really sad that she can't be with them more because they work so much and it was very sweet of you to make that offer. I am so proud you are making new friends." Abby said as she gave her a kiss on the cheek and Clarke smiled at her mother, "Thanks Mom. What about you, Dad?" she asked looking up at him as he smiled down at her, "If she is your friend, then she is family." He said and she smiled relieved.

"Thanks guys. You are the best parents in the world." She said. "You mean in the Ark since there is no one in our world." Jake said while he and Abby laughed while Clarke only smiled. 'You have no idea what there is down there waiting for us, Dad. No idea.' she thought as they arrived at the cafeteria and grabbed their food and sat down and just like with her friends the day before, Clarke noticed Charlotte very quickly and waved her over to where they were.

The girl was very shy, though since yesterday, she seemed like she was already opening up to all of them by the time they had said goodbye. "Hey, I was afraid you were going to come. I would have been very sad if you hadn't." Clarke said as she stood up and hugged Charlotte. "I wasn't sure you really meant it." She said quietly and Clarke smiled, "Of course, I did. Now come and meet my parents." She said as she held the girls hands and guided her to their table. Her parents looked at them and at the little girl and gave her a warm smile.

"Mom, Dad, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, these are my parents. Abby and Jake Griffin." She introduced them to the little girl. "We know each other already, don't we Charlotte?" Abby said and the girl smiled and nodded, "Yes, Dr. Griffin." She said politely but the older woman shook her head. "You can call me Abby. Why don't you sit down?" She said and the girl nodded sitting beside Clarke. "So Charlotte, how did you meet my annoying daughter?" Jake said and Clarke scoffed as Charlotte smiled.

"We met on the food line yesterday. She warned me to stay away from the veggie soup." She said and Abby sighed, "You still refuse to eat it? It is good for your health, Clarke." Abby said and Clarke shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't like she would be sick from not eating it anyway. It might as well be the other way around, she probably would get sick if she eats it. "It still tastes horrible. How is someone supposed to eat something that disgusting?" she said and Charlotte smiled. "Jake, help me here," Abby said and he looked at her. "Honey, I haven't eaten that thing for the past 25 years of my life." He said and Clarke started laughing while Charlotte chuckled lightly.

"I can't believe this. You are a bad influence on her," Abby said as she practically face palmed herself, not believing her own husband who simply laughed at her while exchanging mischievous glances with their daughter and her newest friend who also smiled, though much more shyly. "Mom, relax. Look I am healthy and so is Dad, though he is getting old," Clarke said and waited for his reaction. "Who did you just called old?" he asked and there it was. Her Dad hated when she implied he was old which she did quite often just to see his reaction after all he is not the only one entitled to tease others. He can be teased too.

"You see, Charlotte, my Dad is more than twice my age and still thinks he is so young. It's not like there aren't any grey hair appearing on your head that can't confirm that you're getting old." Clarke said and he looked at her before he looked at Charlotte, "Do you think I am old, Charlotte?" he asked and she shook her head. "I think you look quite young." She said and he smiled, "See? Angel." He said as he pointed at Charlotte and then, "Devil." He said as he pointed at Clarke who could only laugh as well as the other two girls while he kept mumbling a few things that Clarke wasn't paying attention to given what distracted her, what she caught from the side view of her eyes.

It was Bellamy, well, Cadet Bellamy Blake to be precise. He was wearing his guard uniform with his hair slacked back and signature brooding look, like when they first met as soon as they landed on the ground and Clarke thought he looked so different from the hard and scarred friend she came to find in him throughout the months they lived down there. There was no regret on her part for choosing Murphy to help her instead of Bellamy. He was too far gone at his regrets and his opinions for her to reach him and for him to understand the reasons why this is happening at all and they certainly didn't need the future version of him in the dropship.

She needed the jackass and cold bastard version of Bellamy that she will be able to take care of and teach a few lessons to so that he can make better choices than the ones his counterpart did before, like not massacre 300 innocent grounders, for an example. Of course, she still have plans for the two of them to become friends again like they did before but this time, he would not have the pats on the head she gave him back then. Now, he would learn to be a decent and responsible person sooner, she would make sure of that. She really could use without the xenophobic, Pike's right hand version of him.

Truth be told, he did change a little after the whole disaster thing with Octavia and Lincoln and by the time the rocket was launched, he was on the way to become the person she believed him capable of being but she needed that change to happen a lot faster and to be definitive and those were her thoughts as she watched his back as he left the room and shook her head sighing before she tuned back in to the conversation going around on the table. It was very good to see Charlotte getting along so well with her parents, it meant that her plan was working and that it would continue to work and she couldn't be happier to know that Charlotte would be one more person she would save.

The girls said goodbye to Abby and Jake with a promise of doing the whole family breakfast thing the next day and they went together to school. It was funny for Clarke because Charlotte was also a little blonde and she looked a little like her so it was almost like having a younger sister and she said that to Charlotte who smiled at her, "Do you really think that?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "Of course. If you want to, we can be like sisters. I've always wanted one," She said and it was true, it was devastating for 5 years old Clarke to understand that she would never have a biological sibling or any sibling at all.

"I would love too. If I had a sister, I would want her to be like you, Clarke." Charlotte said and Clarke put her arm around her shoulder, "Me too, little sis." She said and Charlotte hugged her by the waist and she was really happy at this moment and it was exactly at that sweet moment that Wells arrived, smiling at the scene playing in front of him. "Touching moment, girls?" he said as he stopped in front of them and Clarke chuckled pulling back from the hug as Charlotte turned to look at him excitedly, "Wells, Clarke said we could be like real sisters," She said and he smiled.

"That is awesome, Charlie. But you know what? I am actually very jealous because I was just about to ask you the same thing. Can you believe that?" He said and she laughed, "We can be like siblings too." She said seriously and he smiled, "Really?" he asked and she nodded before she turned her head to look at the older girl. "You don't mind that, right Clarke?" she asked and the girl shook her head. "Of course not." She said smiling and Wells nodded. "Clarke and I are practically siblings ourselves." He said smiling at her and she understood that he meant it and she smiled at him.

"So do I get a hug too?" he said and she hugged him as tightly and Clarke's heart felt lighter that this was happening. "Okay guys, we should get going." She said as they bid goodbye to Charlotte since her classroom was different than theirs after all it was divided by age, Clarke's class being the seniors. Next year, they were supposed to be choosing what job they wanted, like Wells said his father would have made him train in the matter of politics so he could be introduced to the council and put forth later as candidate for the position of Chancellor.

Clarke, in another life, would have chosen to train as medical. It's not like she could actually work as a painter here where that was considered unnecessary besides she liked helping people and her mother always said she had a gift for it, it would have been an easy choice, given that she had a far more advanced knowledge than the normal trainees since she practically grew up on MedBay, she would have taken half the time to graduate than the other trainees.

But that was not what awaited for her in the not so distant future reserved for their people, like Kane said once, the youth would inherit the Earth and there were a lot of things they would need to face and do before they could establish themselves on the ground and be able to live peacefully and prosperously as they dreamed off and Clarke and Lexa were the keys to that future and she would make sure not to fail everyone this time. This time, it would work, no matter what she has to do. After all, she bears it so they don't have to.

By the time lunch came, Charlotte had more fake siblings than she even knew what to do with it. Once Raven heard about what was decided between the other three members of their little group, she wanted in as well and even Murphy was practically but not really forced in the situation too. He did pretend not to want any of it but anyone could see him smiling every once in a while so now Charlotte had 2 big sisters and 2 big brothers. If Bellamy and Octavia were anything to go by in the example of sibling relationship department, she was doomed.


	17. Truth and Trust

Truth and trust are difficult

One month had already passed since Clarke returned to the past to change it and make the future better than what it had become by the end of it all. Everything was going on according to the schedule she had in her mind and it was all working very well which she considered a success. First of all, her relationship with her parents, especially her mother was better, although she was always closer to her father, Clarke loved her mother very much and remembered everything they went through together on the ground and she decided to make their relationship better than it was even before her Dad died and it was working.

She would go and help her mother in the clinic every Monday, and whenever they had a break from treating the patients, they would spend it talking and getting closer and she was very happy for it and after a while even Charlotte joined her and started to learn a few things herself, she knew how to close a cut and all. Her parents took an immediate liking to the younger girl and every day, she would have breakfast with them and everyday would open up more and more. Even Charlotte's own parents one day during a shared dinner with the Griffins thanked them for making their daughter happier than she has ever been. It was very touching and Clarke was incredibly happy about it.

Tuesdays, she would go with her Dad to his work where they would talk about the progress of fixing the glitch, which was going exactly as Clarke predicted and not at all like her father had hoped, among other things and Raven would join them as well and they would talk and joke around which was super fun. She had never really participated of her father's life and work as she was doing now and she could see how much precious time and moments she lost with him because of it. That is without even counting the amazing friendship she could have had with Raven through him, which was a very welcomed bonus.

Wednesdays, she would spend the afternoon with Wells playing chess, just the two of them. It was almost like a tradition they created when they were kids. Their parents, being the figures that they were, sometimes would find themselves very busy by their own separate works or in regards to their duties as Council members so Clarke and Wells would spend their time playing until their parents were done and came to fetch them. It happened so many times that despite their now busy schedule, neither of them wanted to break that tradition.

Thursdays, she would go meet her Aunt Callie and tell her almost everything that was happening. Her mother and Callie met when they were kids in school and had been best friends since then. So much that despite not being a very common practice in the Ark given the vast difference of countries and beliefs united in one space, when Clarke was born, both Abby and Jake asked Callie to be Clarke's godmother to which she accepted gladly and since then that friendship the older women had, passed onto Clarke and Callie as well and she considered the woman her Aunt and always would.

Fridays, everyone of their little group would get together and spend the afternoon in Murphy's place. He still lived alone so he had the place for himself, which would only be until he came of age and was expected to work to keep his own place. Regardless, it was small, smaller than the Griffins' quarters but it was still able to hold all five of them. They would play, tell stories from when they were kids, make fun of the guards in particular, play games. It was super, super fun and it only helped bring them closer, it was safe to say that everyone loved each other in their little group, even Murphy who liked to play the tough one and would refuse to admit it though everyone knew.

Saturdays, Clarke reserved for herself. She would paint, draw, read one book per week, study her plans over and over again to make sure she had all the important details covered, exercise on her room whatever she could within the very small space and would usually end up thinking about Lexa which was what she did most of the time when her mind wasn't preoccupied with something else. She honestly was counting the seconds in which it would take until she could be with Lexa again, until she could wake her up.

And Sundays, she decided to reserve that day so she could spend it with her parents, just the three of them. They would watch old movies, television shows and just be a family and it was one of the best parts of her week. How could it not be? It was much different than what she remembered even because by this time she had been already imprisoned and orphan of her father so looking at what her life was being like now was a very welcomed change and she was enjoying every minute of it. She couldn't waste it away again.

It was currently Thursday and they were all having lunch together, Clarke, Raven, Murphy, Wells and Charlotte. They were talking about something ridiculous, or so Raven was, at least. "I am serious, that guy Wick, he is a pain in the ass. There are only two engineers I can stand. Papa G and Sinclair, the rest are a bunch of jackasses." Raven was complaining and yes she did take to calling Clarke's parents, Papa and Mama G, her mother was not very thrilled about it but after a few times, she got used to it and it sort of became all her friends' nickname for her parents as well even Charlotte called them that.

"You know what that is between you and Wick? Sexual tension. You should just get it on with him and get that out of your system. It's what I would do anyway." Murphy said earning himself a slap on the back of the head. "That is because you're a pig." Wells said and the guy in questions just shrugged. "The only sexual tension going on here is between your face and the table once I slam it down on it." Raven replied to him and he laughed, he loved pissing her off. "Yeah, besides Raven has a boyfriend, she wouldn't cheat on him." Clarke said automatically only realizing what she said after she had already said it.

Raven hadn't spoken of Finn during the last month and she also didn't mention it, well that was until now obviously. "I'm sorry, Ray, I didn't mean to say it." Clarke apologized, she really hadn't thought about it, simply letting her mouth speak the words before her brain even processed the information that wanted to come out. "How do you know about him?" Raven asked confusedly and a little bit shocked. "You have a boyfriend and you didn't tell us?" Murphy asked as he looked at her. "Murphy," Wells called. "How do you know about my boyfriend, Clarke?" Raven asked firmly and Clarke sighed.

"My Dad told me on the day we met. He was teasing me because I like girls too and was looking at you but then he told me that you had a boyfriend but I don't know any more than that." She explained while lying a little bit in the end because the truth is she really didn't know anything substantial about Raven and Finn's relationship and what was it like before her unwilling interference. Raven sighed before nodding, "I am sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, Griff." She said and Clarke shook her head, "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. It was out of place." She said and Raven shook her head.

"No, you guys are my family too. I should have told you about him before, it's just…" she said and Clarke knew exactly why Raven didn't want to say anything about Finn, given the fact that he was considered a criminal and was taking the blame for something that she did so she wouldn't get floated but this time, the blonde did manage to keep her thoughts to herself. "Ray, it's okay. We love you, you can tell us anything." Charlotte said softly and Wells nodded. "Charlie is right. We are your friends and we will continue to be your friends no matter what, right Murphy?" he said to the boy who nodded.

"Yeah, ugly face. I may be a jackass but even I know family sticks together, well at least a good one, I mean." He said and she smiled, "Thanks, butt face. That actually means a lot," She said before taking a deep breath and continuing, "So his name is Finn, he is 2 years younger than me and we've known each other forever, he was my neighbor and he used to share his rations with me when my mother would sell mine for alcohol, she was screwed up. And with time, friendship turned to more and we got together and when she was floated, he was all I had." She said as they listened attentively.

"The reason I didn't want to talk about him is because of what we did." She said and Clarke reached for her hand across the table and squeezed it, "We are not going anywhere, no matter what." She said and Raven squeezed her hand back and continued. "On my 18th birthday, I told him that I wanted so badly to float outside and he made it happen and it was amazing, beyond explanation. Everything was going well but there was a problem with the air lock and 3 months' worth of oxygen was wasted. He knew that if I was caught, they would float me so he took the blame and he was imprisoned." She explained all at once and waited for their reaction.

"Spacewalker is your boyfriend? And you're the one that actually spacewalked?" Murphy asked knowingly and she nodded. "Cool. It must have so much fun to do that and not die," He simply said and then went back to eating. Raven was visibly surprised. "It was not your fault what happened, Raven. It wasn't his fault either. Accidents happen, all the time." Wells said and Charlotte nodded, "Besides like Johnny said, it must have been super fun and he must really love you to do all of that for you." Charlotte said smiling though Clarke almost choked on what she said.

Finn did love Raven enough to do all of that for her but it was a love like the one she felt for Wells, a friend bordering on sibling kind of love, not a passionate or romantic type of love, not like the one he swore he felt for the blonde. He wouldn't have fallen in love with her so quickly and cheated on Raven if he loved her in the way Charlotte was implying and it made Clarke feel very guilty because of it but she was a little more relieved knowing that it wouldn't happen again, at least not with her and she wouldn't let him do it with anyone else either. Raven didn't deserve to go through that twice.

"See, there was nothing to be scared, we are all here for you." Clarke said smiling comfortingly and Raven had tears in her eyes. "Thank you guys so much," She said sincerely and nodded before Charlotte asked more things about him. Clarke and Wells exchanged glances and they knew that what Raven did had disastrous repercussions to the glitch on the oxygen supply but in that stare, they both silently agreed to not burden her with that knowledge, at least for now anyway since post-Earth Raven definitely knew about it. They all went back to eating until Clarke noticed Kane by the entrance.

He was looking at her intensively and he made a title of his head towards the exit that let her know that he wanted her to follow him out of there which means it must be important. She gave him a brief nod, agreeing to it and then turned towards her friends. "I'm sorry guys but I have to go. I got to go see my Aunt. See you guys tomorrow," She said and they all nodded already knowing it, given her routine. She grabbed her stuff and tried to leave the hall without appearing to be in a hurry to not raise suspicion from the guards or anyone else. He was waiting a little ahead and when he saw her, he motioned for her to follow him and started walking as did she though several steps behind.

They went through a lot of halls until they came to a more deserted area of the Ark and she ran to catch up to him. "Hey," She said and he smiled at her, "I am sorry it took so long but it's not easy making a gym in this place without people noticing." He said and she smiled, "You could have asked for my help." She said but he shook his head. "It would have been much harder to stay hidden if I had. But don't worry, no one knows or even dreams about this place, it has been forgotten for the past 32 years." He said as they came in front of a wall and he moved a piece of it and ushered her in before he walked in himself and closed it behind him.

The place was really big in Ark measures, it was the size of two very large rooms combined. Kane made a running path that surround the whole perimeter of the room, there was a space in the middle for fight training with a cushioned floor and a few weights made with different materials, it was a makeshift gym but it would definitely work for what she was hoping for. "It looks amazing, Kane." She said honestly and he smiled, "Thank you. You already know how to come in and you can use it whenever you want, there are no cameras around and it is very safe." He said and she nodded.

"I will use my Saturdays to train here. Any other difference in my routine, my friends and my parents will take notice to it." She said and he nodded. "I think is best that way too." He said and she nodded. "Now, I have to go see Aunt Callie, will you walk with me?" she asked and he nodded as they left the room and started on their way back. "So how are you two? You and Callie, I mean." She said and he nodded, "Good, I have been trying to let her see the changes little by little to not raise suspicion but it's working. We are better than we were in a long time." He said and she nodded.

"I am happy to hear that. And with the mission, is there any progress?" she asked and he nodded. "The beginning wasn't easy but it gets better every day. Bellamy doesn't trust Council people that much." He said and she nodded. The mission she gave him was to get close to Bellamy and create a bond between them. She knew that Bellamy came to respect Kane a lot in the time they were on the ground so she thought it would be a good idea to get that bond to be made sooner. "Yeah, he is a tough one to crack but you can do it." She said and he nodded.

"I just hope this time I can be a better influence than I was then so that he will not fall into Pike's hands again." He said and she nodded. "Pike will not stand a chance this time, Kane. He will not have any power and he will not turn Bellamy against us. I will not allow it." She said firmly and he nodded. "Neither will I." he said and she nodded. "Good." They came to their destination, he opened the door and she came inside. "Aunt Callie." She said before he followed her and closed the door behind them.


	18. First Round

First round

Another week passes since Kane showed her the gym and on that very Saturday, she went there and spent all morning exercising, she could feel that her body wasn't on the same page as her mind so she didn't push it too far all at once, only enough to feel a little pain in her muscles, which wasn't that much painful, so that way she could built up resistance for when she started the heavy training that she received in the Valley. So she did a couple laps around the room, did some push-ups, some sit ups, lifted a few of the weights Kane provided her with, did two more laps and then went home, both her parents were at work in the morning so it was perfect for her.

The same thing happened with Kane when he started going as well though in a much less irregular schedule than Clarke's, not always being available or having the time to go there besides he didn't use it on the same day she did because they didn't want to raise any suspicion so he decided to alternate the days so that no one would figure out anything and it was a pretty good idea. But on Saturday, they decided to train together the fighting since it required two people and seeing that he also received basic training, he was a good partner to spar with.

Today was Monday which meant that Clarke would go help her mom with the clinic after school. Her muscles were still sore from the training she did but she welcomed it and didn't let it stop her, didn't even let her friends notice it. Clarke went to school like she always did while walking with Charlotte and Wells, those two really took a liking to each other even more than her and Charlotte ever did before and way more than Charlotte did with Bellamy who according to Kane is becoming more receptive of his help and guidance each passing day which was a very good sign of changes.

They dropped Charlotte off to go to her classroom and went to their own where they met Murphy who was sitting down on their usual seat, the three friends chatted about anything and everything until the first teacher came in, history was the first class of the day and Clarke took her notebook to start drawing while the woman explained the Greek and Roman Empires. Either way, the classes went okay as they always did that was until it came time for Pike's class and someone who she didn't know the name of made a question that ignited something within Clarke.

"Sir, what if there are survivors on the Earth? Is it possible?" the guy who she never even saw before said and everyone was silent, including Clarke who was waiting for what his answer would be. "Well, we don't think is possible, the level of radiation by the nuclear war was incredibly high. I doubt anyone could have survived it." He said convinced of it. 'They did and made a home for themselves again. Built their houses from the scraps that remained and became a civilization.' Clarke thought but kept quiet.

"But what if there was?" A girl asked him again. He looked at her and the class before he answered. "Well, if there is, the generation of our people that comes down will make sure that they will not be a problem for us." He said and that was the last straw that remained from the lit bit of patience and restrain that Clarke had shown since the first time she had to see his face and so now what he just said was it for Clarke as she remembered everything he did. "You're wrong." She said firmly drawing attention for her. "What do you mean, Miss Griffin?" he asked gently as he always did with her and Wells.

"If there are survivors, the Earth is more theirs than ours so claiming something that don't belong to us as if it did and not caring about the supposedly people that has be living there for longer than we have been alive is completely wrong." She said firmly staring him down. "We have right to Earth, it is our planet after all and we will have it even if we have to conquer it again. But let's not continue on this conversation, there are no survivors and Earth will be ours one day." He said and she was fuming in anger and wouldn't let this go.

"That is exactly the kind of thinking that led to the biggest massacres in the history of humanity and what led us to the situation we find ourselves in today. Some people and their leaders created the bombs that almost destroyed us all simply because they believe they were the better people, that they were better than everyone else and even with all the destruction that way of thinking had caused us a human kind, after more than a century living in the consequences of those thoughts, you would still to try to live by and teach us that idea which only leads to horror?" She said as everyone was silent including Pike.

"I think you should be dismissed from class for the rest of the day, Miss Griffin and I will warn your parents about your behavior today so that it will not be repeated again." He said firmly, not liking being questions like that and Murphy was about to protest it but she shook her head to stop him, he was walking on thin line with Pike, she didn't want him getting into more trouble because of her, especially not with that asshole. So she grabbed her things and kissed him and Wells on the cheek before telling them where she would go as she left the classroom without even looking at the man.

She started walking in the direction of the clinic, she was supposed to help her mom there anyway, might as well go earlier. She was fuming inside. She couldn't believe what he was saying, it was the same speech he used on the ground to commit atrocities to the innocent grounders, she was disgusted by him. She was walking around so immerged on her thought that she bumped on someone. "I am sorry." She said and fell to the floor as she looked up to see who it was and it was Bellamy. He helped her up. "It's okay." He said before he walked past her as Kane came to her side.

"He arrested someone who got floated today." He said explaining his behavior as she turned to him. "I wasn't looking where I was going either. It's okay." She said and he looked concerned. "What is it?" he asked and she looked around letting him know it was not meant for other peoples' ears. "Let's take a walk." He said and they started walking in the direction she was going before. "Can you tell me now?" he asked and she sighed, the anger coming back to her only y thinking about him. "Pike. I don't know how much longer I can take, Kane. All I want to do is kill him." She said and he sighed.

"You know we still have 11 months until you go down, you need to be more patient." He said and she turned to look at him. "Someone in class asked him what if there were survivors on Earth and he practically said that if there were, we should annihilate them and claim Earth for us. Just like he tried to do last time. That man is evil" She said and he sighed. "I can see it now, Kane. It wasn't the Ice Nation who turned him into a xenophobic psychopath, he always were one which means that he won't change." She said and he nodded.

"I had sincerely hoped he would but if what you are telling me is true then, it is safe to say he is a threat to us and to our cause and I understand why you want to deal with him right now but you can't." He said lowly for only her to hear. "The worst part is to know we need him. From what I know and heard from Brian, he was the key to the survival of what was left of Farm Station. I don't know with the changes we will make when Lexa will be able to send for them but one thing I tell you for sure, once we secure them back, he is a dead man." She said firmly.

"Clarke." Kane said but she shook her head. "No, Kane. I will not let him poison our people against the grounders. And I will not let him be the reason why I lose the woman I love again. I don't know how or when but I will find a way to end him. It's a promise." She said as they came to stop. "Well, let's not worry about that right now. What matter is going through the next months and that everything works out the way it is supposed to so let's only worry about him when we absolutely need to and not now. Now it's time for you to try to be patient and stop antagonizing him, it will make things worse if you keep doing it, just block him from your mind and let his class run as it always did. You can do this." He said and she nodded.

She hugged him and he hugged her back then they said goodbye and she went inside the clinic. "Hey Pete, my mom?" she asked and the man pointed at her mother's office so Clarke said hi to Jackson and Mary and went straight there, she knocked and when she got the permission, she entered it. Her mom was sitting down and looking over some charts when she looked up. "Sweetie, I wasn't expecting you here so soon. Shouldn't you be in class?" she asked and Clarke sighed before coming to sit in front of her.

"I was dismissed from class." She said since there was no point in hiding, he said he was going to tell her parents anyway, she would rather for them to hear her own version first before he twisted the truth to make her be seen as more disrespectful than she was. Her mother was shocked by the revelation because it had never happened before, Clarke had always been a very good student, no teacher had ever dismissed her form class like this. "Why?" her mother asked and she told her everything that happened and why she was dismissed.

"I just couldn't take what he said, Mom. It was just so wrong. It is exactly the reason why the nuclear war happened and he wants to perpetuate that idea for future generations to do what? Go back to Earth and start that all over again?" she said fervently while Abby listened to her daughter's passionate speech. "It certainly explains why he treated Murphy so poorly until he started being mine and Wells' friend. I hate him. I hate him and I hate his bigotry and his xenophobic megalomaniac tendencies." She said as she sighed.

"Well, from what you told me, you did nothing wrong, you simply didn't agree with his opinion and spoke up against it and frankly so would I. It really is a bad way of thinking about the situation and I am surprised Charles would even think something like that." She said and Clarke looked at her mom. "But you believe me right? He is going to tell the story to you and Dad differently but I swear I am not lying, Mom." Clarke said and Abby smiled. "Of course I believe you and don't worry, when he does come to talk to us, your father and I will make sure to let him know how we feel." She said and Clarke smiled.

Abby stood up and so did Clarke and they hugged each other tightly. "I am so proud of the woman you are becoming, Clarke. I really am." Abby said and Clarke smiled and tried to savor this moment and these words before that changes. "Thanks, Mom. That means a lot." She said and they pulled back. "Why don't you help me with this surgery? It's the guy, I was telling you about yesterday." She asked and Clarke nodded. "Okay." She said and they both went to prepare before they entered the room and performed the surgery. It went well, they worked well together. Abby then let Clarke go and have lunch with her friends.

When she got there, they were already sitting down, the boys telling Raven and Charlotte the story. She greeted everyone and let them continue the tale as she went in line to grab herself some food because doing a three hour surgery really made her very hungry. Then, she went back to their table and they continued chatting. She got a high five from Raven, a smile from Wells, a hug from Charlotte and Murphy's approval. Once they were done, Charlotte went with her back to the clinic and they continued helping the patients that came in.

At dinner, she told her Dad what happened and like her mom, he was also on her side which she was really happy about because when they went back, her parents received Pike's visit, she was sent to her room while they talked but of course, she didn't really go but hid so she could listen and like she predicted, he twisted the story. "I'm sorry for coming her to discuss something like this but your daughter's behavior in class today was unacceptable. She disrespected me and called me names that I will not repeat." He said and the Griffins looked t each other.

"That is very interesting, Charles because what Clarke told us was that she disagreed with your view in regards to the possibility that there are survivors on Earth and how to deal with them and you dismissed her." Jake said and Pike nodded. "I am sure that is what she told you but did you really expect her to tell you the truth?" He said and Abby nodded. "Yes, because that is how we raised her. We both taught her that it is important to fight for what you believe and to express your opinions. That it is important to defend what is right and to me, that is exactly what she need today." Abby said firmly.

"Abby, surely you don't…" He started saying. "Clarke's opinion about what you said today is our opinion as well, Charles. If there re survivors, we must work with them, not against them. The Earth is everyone's planet and it is up to us to not make the same mistakes our ancestors did. Teaching kids that killing people to claim something that is not theirs is a very poor example of humanity and I am deeply disappointed with you, Charles. I didn't have that impression of you but I see now that I was wrong." Jake said and Pike looked like he didn't know what to say or do.

"Clarke is 17 years old and is becoming a grown woman and a strong one at that and both her father and I could not be more proud of her and her values and we are both on the same page that your reaction to her opinions was wrong. You cannot expel a student from your class simply because they have a different view or opinion than yours about certain subject and because they start a conversation about it. It was completely uncalled for and we are very unhappy with it." Abby said and all Clarke could do was let her heart sore thanks to their trust and belief her parents have of her, she feels bad that on the ground that view will be changed but she is slowly making her peace with it and even when they diverge, she will always remember this moment and try to hear those words said about her from her parents' mouth once again.

"Well, then I guess I don't have anything to do here," He said and stood up, "I know the way out." He said and then left their quarters as Clarke left her parents to talk among themselves and went back to her room, lying down on her bed looking at the ceiling with a very large smile plastered on her face. Maybe there were good things that could come from being patient, small pleasures such as this. By remembering his face, Clarke could not help but laugh at him. Would you look at that huh? You son of a bitch.

Clarke 1 X Pike 0


	19. I am sorry

I am sorry

After that whole disaster with Pike, Clarke followed in Kane's advice and practically used all of her patience during the man's classes which was not an easy task to do, at all. Her parents stood by her side through the whole ordeal but they did also advised her to not pick a fight with him unless extremely necessary or unless she was right or defending what was right. She nodded and promised them she would try her best to not let it happen again, unless he deserved it and despite knowing their daughter and her temper when defending something she believed in, they nodded agreeing with her terms.

And although she expected it to be very hard, what happened turned out to work perfectly for her as it seemed that Pike didn't like being made a fool of by her to her parents so he started trying to get a rise out of her, something that could make him look better and her worse but she quickly figured it out what he wanted to do so it became even more fun to ignore him and his attempts. His frustrated face whenever he provoked her and she kept quiet, not giving the time of the day were the highlights of her day and it made the whole patience thing a whole lot easier and enjoyable.

But it was still hard sometimes so she developed a way to provoke him without giving him reason to act against her. She would be sarcastic in the right amount and it didn't take long for Murphy to join in, it was exactly the nice revenge he wanted to have against the man who treated him like trash since he became his student. When Pike was about to do something to them, Wells butted in and he would stop immediately. After all, Wells was the Chancellor's son and any mistreatment of him could earn a trip to space so Wells became their safeguard. His c contribution to their cause, he said.

Whenever they were about to cross the limits, he would butt in and save the day. Of course they didn't do it frequently, just when Pike was also crossing the limits. Raven would live for the stories they would tell her and Charlotte during lunch. Pike's ear must have caught fire with how much they talked about him. Not only him though, the guards, most of the council members, the guards, all of them were victims of their jokes even Jaha too and Wells was the first one to make a joke with his Dad surprising everyone.

"He is not my favorite person right now so go ahead." He said and they laughed on that too. And that was how 2 months went by. As for the glitch, her father kept working on it, every once in a while, he would say that he wanted to let the people know but Clarke would remind him of his promise and that he never broke a promise to her before. She would also talk to him about everything that could go wrong if he said anything and he would back down from it. He couldn't bear the thought of hurting his family so much but also felt bad from keeping the truth from the people.

Clarke was also sad because she couldn't tell him that the Earth was survivable and that everything would be okay. She ever came close to it once but Kane came just in time to stop her and remind her she couldn't, that it would be too risky to their plan and even to Jake himself were anyone else to find out and so she backtracked and kept her mouth shut. Her own friendship with Kane came as a surprise for her parents and Callie but she told them that he was one of the people that were helping her deal with the Pike situation and that led to her parents giving him a chance which made Callie very happy.

At first, Clarke was worried about him being around her parents given his past relationship with her mother but he assured her again that what he had with Abby stayed in that other life, and not in this one and that it wouldn't affect their dynamics and much less her parents' relationship in the slightest. She believed him so dinner once a week with the other couple became part of the routine and often her father and Kane would talk about the glitch but they always talked separately when it was about that. They were on the way of becoming friends which she liked it a lot. Kane really did become that uncle figure on her life.

He was the only ally awaken she had, he was also her sparring partner every Saturday for the past 2 months and a half and also someone that was always there to listen to her about her past and the only person she could confide in regards to her relationship with Lexa and the overall existence of the woman since no one else knew or remembered her anyway. And those talks happened quite often and almost always by that big window that pointed at the planet. They would also talk about other experiences on the ground. He would tell her what happened on the 3 months she spent away.

Every Saturday, they would train all morning and it was also where he would give her news about his mission to get closer to Bellamy and given the last ones she heard, they were pretty close already. She had known that once Kane cracked the tough exterior Bellamy had on in regards to his view of Council members and the guy started trusting him that they would develop the relationship they did on the ground, of course without the whole baggage they developed thanks to their mistakes, at least from Bellamy's side though Kane guaranteed that whatever Bellamy had done on the ground, he wasn't holding against him here and she was trying to do the same.

What he did was not okay, in no way excusable, not in a million years and now she knows that the way she handled the situation with Lexa and her people in particular was bad, actually really shitty. She had offered him forgiveness because she cared about him but she should have at least made him know that what he did was despicable and that she was angry with him like Octavia did but she does feel that back then, he drew a lot of support from her like the moment when they talked by the lake waiting for Luna's people so she doesn't know what could have happened if he felt she had turned her back on him again so on that account, she decided that he wasn't the only one to blame. She had a slice in the guilt pie as well.

With Charlotte, her parents really took a liking to her and having her around and even they stared treating her like a younger daughter which is exactly what Clarke was aiming to accomplish by bringing them together. Much like Aurora, there was nothing to be done about Charlotte's parents' death so she got Charlotte to get close to her own parents so she will have someone that will take care of her once they come down to Earth and also for her parents to have someone with them once Clarke leaves for Polis which is where she belongs with Lexa.

Everything was going fine, her relationship with her parents was better than it had ever been, her Dad was still very much alive and would stay that way if she had a say in it which she did, as she already got Kane to keep an eye on him once she is not here anymore, when she is imprisoned. Her mother and she were closer than they have ever been even before her father died. Her friends were closer to each other each passing day, she could feel that the bond they formed here couldn't, wouldn't be broken which was very nice because given how good things were, it was time that it went bad. And it did.

It was a Wednesday and the group was having lunch together like they did every day. "And then Sinclair yelled at the other guy to use fuel and not hydrazine." Raven was telling them what happened at her work earlier in the morning and they all laughed at her story. Ever since that day where she told them about Finn, Raven felt much more comfortable sharing stories with them so she told them a lot. Murphy was still the pretend tough guy but everyone knew it was only that, pretense. He took quite the shine to Charlotte.

He was always teasing her with her braid or with her food and the girl would sometimes get a piggyback ride. Clarke smiled whenever she saw them and to think about what happened to both of them in the other timeline. How Charlotte killed Wells, who she loves now, and let Murphy, someone who she adores, take the blame for it. How Clarke, who considered Murphy one of the most important people on her life now, accused him for something he didn't do and how Murphy hunt the young girl down, wanting her blood, the same one he considered a little sister, it all ending with Clarke and Bellamy banishing him because of Charlotte's suicide. They surely have come a long way.

Once they were finished with their lunch and each had to go their separate ways, they said goodbye for the day. Charlotte, Murphy and Raven going one way while Clarke and Wells went to the other in the direction of the recreation room where they sat down to play chess like they always did. Since that one Wednesday, they had talked more about Wells' feeling after but he guaranteed to her that he was working on moving on. He even told her that he met a girl that interested him but he wanted to be sure of his feelings before he started anything.

Of course, that once he said that Raven and her practically forced him to show them who the girl he was interested in was and once he did, after heavy coercing of her mind, Clarke finally recognized her. Her name was Jessica Higgins. She was one of the 100 kids and one of the survivors from the Mountain, she went in the bunker as far as Clarke knew though she remembered that she didn't put her name on her list but either way, she encouraged him to go for it but he said he needed more time and she let it go since nothing spikes teenage hormones more than Earth. She would know about that.

They were both sitting down talking about exactly about her. "She spoke to me today. It was shortly but it was something." He said as he moved his piece forward and she nodded smiling, studying her options. "Of course it is. I told you, go for it. What do you have to lose, Wells? The most she can say is no and I don't think she will." She said as she moved her piece as he looked at her and she looked at him. "You know what? You're right. Besides after your no, I think I could handle hers." He said and she smiled.

They continued playing and laughing about Wells' crush right until the heard a commotion by the door. There were yells and she could hear the guards' voice but soon enough the door opened to reveal a frantic and out of breath Murphy who came running towards their table, not caring about all the looks they were receiving now. The two of them stood up and joined him. "Murphy, what is going on?" Clarke asked worriedly. "Clarke, Wells. You need to come with me right now." He said catching up his breath and trying to pull them to go with him, the other two looked at each other confusedly.

"Murphy, is something wrong? Tell us." Wells asked him also worried, it was not like Murphy to be like this so they were both shocked. "Yeah, spit it out already." Clarke said quickly and Murphy was finally able to explain what was happening. "The guards arrested Charlotte's parents for what? I don't know. Raven is with her. They took them to floating chamber. Your Dad is going to float Charlotte's parents, Wells. Maybe you can stop it. We need to go now. Come on." He said and they were shocked before they nodded and followed him running through the halls of the Ark.

Clarke was going to support Charlotte because she knew there was nothing they could do about what would happen to her parents now. Not even Wells could stop his Dad just like he couldn't when his father floated his own best friend and her own father. The situation was horrible but the only thing that comforted Clarke even if just a little was that Charlotte wasn't going to go through this by herself. They would all be right there for her and they would all help her, in whatever way she needed them to.

As they got closer, they could hear her screams and her pleas for mercy and Wells sped up with Murphy and Clarke following him. They all came to see the guards putting her parents in the chamber, two of them together and Raven was there holding her back. Murphy and Clarke went to their side. Charlotte was crying and when she saw them, she hugged Clarke who held her back just as fiercely while Wells went to his Dad. "Dad, please don't do this. Whatever is they did, please let them go. She is my friend, I know them, they are good people. I am asking you this once, stop this. Let them go, please." Wells tried but Jaha shook his head.

"I am sorry son but the law is the law and it is for everyone. No one is above it. Not even your friends." He said but Wells didn't give up, he couldn't. "Please, I am asking you as a personal favor. Imprison them, show them mercy. Please, she is just a little girl, she can't lose her parents, Dad." He said begging his father and Charlotte spoke between sobs. "Please don't kill them." She asked Jaha as well but he was irreducible. Clarke knew he would be but she had expected at least for him to show some remorse but there was nothing and he was not that good of an actor. He really didn't regret it.

"I am sorry, young lady but your parents are criminals and by the Ark's Marshall Law, any criminal above 18 years of age is sentenced to death by floating." He said to her and to her parents and as he raised his hand to hit the button, Clarke turned Charlotte away from the chamber and hugged her as Raven and Murphy shielded them from the view as well and as she heard the button being hit, the last thing she saw of the two sweet people she came to know was their bodies being sucked into space forever.

Space sucks.


	20. 2 down 3 to go

2 down, 3 to go

One second

One second was all it took for the doors to open, Charlotte's parents be sucked into the vast whole that is space and suddenly the chamber was empty. No sign that there was ever someone in there. On the other side of the door, everyone of their group just froze as the door closed again. Charlotte kept crying on Clarke's arms, she was sobbing by now and Raven hugged her as well while Murphy formed a protective barrier between them and the guards just in case one of them tried something with his girls.

Meanwhile, Wells just looked at the door without believing what just happened, he was shocked, never having witnessed someone being floated before. They were gone, just like that. "I am sorry son, but it had to be done." Jaha said to him and Wells' attention was turned back towards his father with a look of pure anger and all he could do in that moment, all he wanted to do and did was punch his Dad on the face with all the strength he could muster. Everyone else who was there were shocked though Clarke wasn't, she knew Wells enough to expect this from him. He hated injustice.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!" He said as the guards finally recovered, wiped out the batons and moved forward to subdue him though Jaha dismissed them with a wave of his hand as he wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at his son. "I did what I had to do and when you are Chancellor, you will understand what that means." He said but Wells shook his head. "If I one day become Chancellor, I will make sure I never end like you." He said and Clarke knew that it was time to stop this or else it would get really ugly, an angry Wells was very explosive and she didn't need him to get himself arrested now.

"Murphy take Charlotte to your place, Raven go with them. I will take care of Wells." She said to the other two and they nodded. Murphy picked up the crying girl in his arms and Raven accompanied them as Clarke moved over to Wells' side. "Hey, stop." She said to him but he shrugged her off. "How could you do this to a little girl? Do you have no heart? Who are you?" He said and Jaha stared at him. "I am your father, Wells." Thelonious said and the boy shook his head. "No, you're Chancellor Jaha. My Dad, the nice guy I admired, he died the day my mom did." He said and Clarke pulled him back by the arm.

"That's enough, Wells. You're both high on adrenaline and it is really not a good time to be talking. When you are calmer, then you two can talk. Now come on, let me check on your hand and then we will go check on Charlotte, she needs us to be there for her, now more than ever." She said strongly as she made him look at her and he nodded conceding to her, walking out before she turned to the older man. "You may be his father but Wells is a better man than you could ever be." She said before she followed her friend leaving behind a stunned Jaha.

She caught up with Wells and held his arm. "Slow down." She said not letting go of his arm and slipping her hand into his. He squeezed it and she knew it was the only thing bringing him comfort at the moment, he usually got really sensitive after a fight with his father, especially one where his mother is mentioned, so she just held on tighter and they walked in silence until they got to her place, luckily her parents were at work and no one was there. She sat him down on the chair and started cleaning his hand the one he hurt punching his Dad, it was a good punch but again Wells had always been very strong. But right now, he looked so dejected and he looked up at her with tears on his eyes. "He just pushed the button, Clarke. He didn't even blink." He said and she nodded.

"I know." She said gently. "How could he do it just like that? Why?" he asked throatily and she shrugged. There was an answer to that question and it was Bellamy who provided that answer in another time, in another situation. "Leaders do what they think is right, Wells. Your Dad thinks that what his is doing is what needs to be done." She said. Jaha believes that the laws as they were made are there help keep the peace and the order on the Ark, to ensure their people's survival, he wouldn't go against it just because a group of young people asked him to even if one of them was his own son.

"It's not easy having the fate of so many people rest upon your shoulder. Heavy lies the crown. But let's not think about that right now. Charlotte needs us to be there for her. She is the only thing that matters at this moment." She said and he nodded as she finished wrapping his hand. "Where is she and the others?" he asked. "I told Murphy and Raven to take her to his place, at least she can calm down there and we can think of a way to help her." She said though she knew it wouldn't matter.

If what she remembered was correct, Charlotte will be arrested very soon and they need to let that happen so that she can go down to Earth with them but it doesn't mean they can't let her know that she is not alone before that goes down. They can let her know that they will always take care of her. "Okay, let's go there then." He said and stood up. She organized the first aid kit and then they were on their way there. It took a few minutes until they knocked on the door. Murphy was the one who opened up and his face said it all.

They entered the place and there curled up against Raven was the little girl with red and puffy eyes still crying, though silently now. It broke Clarke's heart especially because she knows how the girl is feeling, at least a little since she also lost her Dad in the other time. Wells was the first one to move towards the girl while Clarke stood beside Murphy. The boy kneeled down in front of her and she looked at him. "I am so sorry, Charlie. I wished I could have saved them. I wish I could have stopped him." He said as tears fell down on his face.

The little girl finally moved as she leaned forward to wipe his tears with her own hands. "You tried, Wells." She said in a small voice and he shook his head. "It wasn't enough and I am so sorry." He said and she nodded. "I hate him." She said and everyone knew who he was. "I hate him too." He said angrily and she held his hand. "Thank you for trying and for punching him." She said and he smiled sadly. "Not hard enough on both accounts." He said as he sat down beside her and she curled against his chest.

"Yeah, that was a mean hook right there, Wells. Remind me to never be on the receiving end of that one. It could do some damage o this beautifully handsome face." Murphy said and everyone gave a small smile to him even Charlotte. "Don't piss me off and you will be okay." He said jokingly and Murphy nodded. "You should put a note on your bed side table. 'Don't piss Wells off or he will break your face, dickhead.' Because I am pretty sure you will forget otherwise." Clarke said and he pushed her a little.

"Shut up, blondie." He said and she smiled before Charlotte spoke up and everyone turned to her. "What will happen to me now?" she said and they didn't know what to say so Clarke spoke up. "I don't know, sweetie but just remember that we are here with you if you need anything and so are my parents. We will be there with you every step of the way." Clarke said and everyone nodded. "The Griffster is right. You have 4 super friends and 2 cool people who will take care of you. We can take turns to have a sleepover between Clarke's place and mine, right Clarke?" Raven said and the blonde nodded.

"And you can spend one day with each one of the guys though I doubt by second week, you will even want to see that hideous face for more than a few minutes. It's how I feel every goddamn day that I am forced to put up with that." Raven said pointing at Murphy who scoffed at her. That was how their friendship worked. "Shut up, ugly face. You're even uglier than me." he said to her and she scoffed. "That is just not possible." She said and everyone chuckled including Charlotte who had stopped crying, luckily. "How about we agree that both of you are ugly?" Clarke said.

"Shut up, blondie." They said in unison and Clarke laughed a little at them, not really feeling the moment to be joyful. "I was just trying to help." She said raising her hands in surrender before lowering them to her lap and they smiled before Wells turned to the little girl still curled up in his arms. "So with whom of the girls do you want to sleep tonight?" Wells asked Charlotte and Clarke raised her hand. "She can stay with me today and tomorrow, she can stay with Raven." She suggested and Raven nodded. "I agree." She said and they looked at Charlotte who nodded.

"Okay." She said, agreeing to their plan and Clarke smiled at her. "All right then. We can go whenever you're ready." She said to the younger girl and Charlotte nodded. "I need to get a few things from my place before that but I don't want to go alone." She said sadly and Murphy stepped forward. "I will go with you, kid. Then we will come back here and we can all go and try to eat some of that crappy thing they call dinner." He said and they nodded. She stood up and hugged the other boy as they left the place leaving the other three behind.

"Jesus Christ, what was that?" Raven said sighing once the door closed. The other two sighed as Clarke sat down on the chair and Wells and Raven came to join her as the latter slouched on her chair. "I don't know. Do you even know what they were accused of?" she asked Raven who shook her head. "No, Murphy and I were walking and talking about something I don't even remember when we saw her parents being dragged by the guards and your Dad leading the way." She said as the listened attentively.

"She was following behind crying and asking them to let her parents go. Murphy tried to go to her but I sent him to go after the two of you while I went after her. Jaha was saying something but honestly, I didn't even hear it. All I could think was Charlotte crying and her parents being ushered inside that thing. You guys came in no longer after we had arrived there and Jaha had read them the law or so shit like that." She explained and they nodded understanding her reaction, it was expected in the situation.

"And now, what? What is going to happen to her?" she asked and Wells shrugged, neither very familiar with what happens after the floating, Clarke was imprisoned right after her Dad died so Raven was the one who answered. "Well the next step is for the guards to grab their things to redistribute." Once Raven said that, Clarke's eyes opened wide as she remembered what Charlotte told her about how she was imprisoned. "Oh my god." She said as she stood up and the other two looked at her in concern. "What is it, Clarke?" Raven asked.

"Charlotte and Murphy just went there to grab her things, if she sees the guards taking her parents stuff, how do you think she is going to react?" she said and they understood what she meant before Wells cursed and they turned to him. "What is it, Wells?" the girls asked as he looked at them. "Johnson is responsible for the distribution and Johnson is…" he said but Raven finished for him. "The guard who floated Murphy's Dad." She said and they all froze before they started running out for there and in the direction of the quarters.

Clarke hadn't known that the recollection of the stuff from Charlotte's parents for redistribution would happen so fast. She had thought that at least she would have some time with the girl to comfort her before she was imprisoned but apparently, it happened immediately and with Murphy, she remembered that he was imprisoned for burning Johnson's quarters but she had stopped him from doing that when she went to his place, given that he would have been arrested a week before she did, and became his friend so she knew they would need to find another way for him to get arrested. Eventually. Not now.

The three of them ran as fast as they could through the halls but when they got there it was too late. They came in time to see the guards putting the cuffs on Murphy and Charlotte, they were shocked and Clarke couldn't even register what was being said but she could see Wells trying to talk the guards out of arresting them but she knew it was pointless, this was the way it was going to happen, there was nothing to be done about except sped up one part of her plan, that she had decided to wait before doing it but as she saw her two friends being escorted towards the direction of the Skybox, she knew what needed to be done.

She needed to trigger Murphy.


	21. One more Ally

One more ally

The walk back from that place was done in absolute silence, neither one of them knew what to say really. What could they say? In one hour or so, two people they knew got killed and two of their friends were imprisoned just like that. All three of them had their mind lost in their own thoughts so all they did was say goodbye to each other with a promise to see each other at lunch the next day and each one went their separate ways. Raven back to her place, Wells too but Clarke had somewhere else to go first, she needed to talk to Kane, she doubted he knew about what happened.

She walked to his place and knocked on the door, she hoped that he would be at home, she didn't want to have to search for him around the Ark or get in contact with Jaha right now and luckily for her, after a few seconds he was the one to open the door and by the look on her face, he knew something bad had happened. "Callie is with your mother, come on in." He said and she entered the room and just sat by the chair as he grabbed her a glass of water and she drank it. "Clarke, are you okay? What happened?" he asked softly and she looked at him before she began telling him everything that happened.

She couldn't help but feel the tears from coming to her eyes as she finished her tale. He ran his hand on his hair sighing. "I can't believe I used to be so in favor of these laws. They are even more barbaric than the ones the grounders have. At least, there is so sort of justice there. In here, we are just killing people for nothing." He said and she nodded. "Kane, she is 11. She is supposed to spend 7 years locked up until she is 18. That is inhuman." She said and he nodded. "Yes, it is but remember that she will only spend 9 months then she will enjoy the freedom of Earth as will us all." He said and she nodded as he refilled her glass.

"What about Murphy? What are you going to do about him?" he asked and she sighed. "I had planned for him to get arrested later on, closer to my own arrest but since it happened now, there is only one thing left to do and it is to trigger his memory." She said and he looked at her curiously. "Are you sure that is not best to wait until you are down on Earth?" he asked but she shook her head. "The only one that I will wait to do that with is Raven which means she will need your help to come down." She said and he nodded since last time, he was the one that forced the launch.

"So when will you do it?" he asked and she answered. "As soon as he is allowed to receive visitiors. I will go see him and Charlotte and I will trigger him and let him know the part of the plan we have it covered. Maybe he can even help with a few ideas." She said and he nodded. "Murphy is definitely resourceful." He said and she nodded. "He is a survivor, always was. We just got to know the last jackass side of him." She said and he nodded just as the door opened and Callie and Abby appeared surprised to see Clarke there.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" Abby asked as Marcus stood up and went to greet his wife and stand by her side as Abby sat down beside Clarke and at seeing her mother there, she could not hold it any longer and started crying. Abby quickly hugged her and brought her to her chest as Clarke held onto her as if her life depended on it. "Marcus, what happened?" Callie asked knowing that Clarke wasn't able to speak with how much she was crying. Abby also looked at him expecting an answer.

"Charlotte's parents were floated and the girl and Murphy were arrested." He answered and the two women were shocked before Abby hugged her daughter tighter. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie." She repeated a few times as the other two watched before Clarke's cries subdued to hiccups and she pulled back. "Do you want to go home?" Abby asked and the girl nodded and they stood up. Callie and Kane hugged them both as they left and walked towards their own home. Clarke, never letting go of her mother's hand.

When they got home, Jake was already there and once she saw her Dad, Clarke just went to him and hugged him burying her face on his chest as her cries started again, stronger than before as she remembered the horrible experience of seeing his body being sucked into space, never to return again. He hugged her back still confused until Abby explained what happened and he sighed sadly before hugging his little girl tighter and saying comforting words to her. Only that he didn't know that she wasn't crying just because of what happened to Charlotte.

Seeing her dad in that chamber and knowing what was going to happen was horrible for Clarke, especially because she had thought that her own best friend had betrayed her, not that knowing the truth would have made it any better or easier to bear, in fact, Wells had been right, she would have doubled her pain if she had known of her mother's part in the whole thing. It was the second most horrible experience of her life. The third being what she did in Mount Weather and the first being watching Lexa die without being able to do anything to stop it, to save her. And as she remembered that particular incident, her cries turned to heavy sobbing which worried her parents as Abby joined in the hug.

They had never seen her so sad before. She had never cried so much and so painfully for anything, or any injury she suffered as she was doing right now and they weren't sure how to comfort her but they tried their best and just their presence there with her was enough. Jake guided them all to sit down on the couch and sat down pulling Clarke along with him since she didn't let him go, she was tightly wrapped around him. Abby went to get her a glass of water. It took them a while to get her to stop crying and to calm down since her mind kept replaying the bad memories she had of all the people she had lost.

But by the time she did calm down, she was exhausted mentally and emotionally so she just went straight to sleep. Her parents were concerned but she said that she would be fine so with a kiss and a hug from both of them she went to her room and fell asleep right away. At first it was okay, until she started dreaming about her father's death, only that this time instead of him being floated, it was Lexa. Clarke was on the other side, knocking against the door but it wouldn't budge and Lexa had that same smile on her face that she did when she was dying before and Clarke could see her mouthing the words I love you but just before she finished saying it, the doors opened and she was sucked in and all Clarke could was scream as loud as her body was capable of screaming.

She could feel someone shaking her up quite roughly and calling her name, calling for her to wake up but all she could do was cry and trash until she woke up by herself with a startle and sat up panting on bed with both of her parents there by her side. She could feel she was sweating heavily and that there were tears falling down on her face and she could see her parents speaking but she couldn't hear them and she noted that her mother was telling her to breathe and that was when she realized she was shaking and hyperventilating which meant she was having a panic attack.

She could feel herself being pulled against her father's chest and could hear his commands to breathe with him and she focused her body on following his breathing rhythm and started focusing on the sound of his voice as Abby left to get her a glass of water and a cold towel. She continued focusing and slowly she could feel herself getting better and his voice getting louder and louder. Her mother returned and put the towel against her forehead and put the glass near her mouth and she drank a little bit, then a little more until she drank the whole glass.

"Honey, are you okay now?" Abby asked and Clarke looked at her. "I need…" she said before she stopped. "What do you need, baby girl?" his father only called her that when he was really worried and by his tone she could hear it clearly. She turned to him. "I need to see the Earth." She said and her parents looked at each other confused by the request but with how bad her nightmare must have been, they would do anything she needed so they nodded and her Dad walked her all the way to the window and she came close to it putting her hand against the window and she felt it, that same comforting feeling she felt when she was lying with Lexa's arms wrapped around her and she smiled as tears continued falling on her face but she knew that wherever she was, Lexa was okay.

She turned to her Dad and smiled at him. "Thank you for bringing me here, Dad." She said and gave him a big smile which relieved him of his more concerning worries a little. She looked at it one more time before she turned to him and started walking back home, he went to her side and hugged her. "Why did you want to come there, kiddo?" he asked and she smiled. "I don't know. I just knew I would feel better if I did." She said and went back to their place and she went to sleep and this time dreamt of their moment together at the Valley.

The next day, the three remaining friends got together at lunch and talked about what happened with their friend. Wells said he didn't even look at his father, much less talk to him. Raven was angry that she didn't go with Charlotte, maybe it could have been different but Clarke assured her it was not her fault and that they needed to be there for the other two even if they are in the Skybox and they all nodded. Raven then told them that they could go visit them already so Clarke decided to go visit them right away.

Wells decided to go with her while Raven had very important work things to do but told them to tell their friends she would visit them the next day so they nodded and once they said goodbye to her, they went straight there. The guard explained the procedure and they nodded while they were checked for anything. Once they were clear, they were directed to their cells. Clarke had already suggested that they each visited them separately to not overwhelm them and Wells agreed so she went to visit Charlotte first while he went to see Murphy.

As soon as she was allowed in, the girl came running to her and they hugged as they smiled at each other and Charlotte cried and Clarke let one tear fall down before she sat them down. "Hey, Charlie. How are you?" She asked and the girl shrugged. "I'm scared." She said sadly and Clarke nodded. "I understand but don't forget that you have us. Me, Raven, Wells and my parents outside of her and that you have Murphy inside of here with you." She said and the girl nodded at her. "Can you tell me what happened? Why were you parents arrested?" Clarke asked. "They were making a new experiment, but it was something illegal, they never told me. but yesterday, something went wrong and they were discovered and floated." The girl said the last part in a whisper.

"Why did you guys got arrested?" Clarke asked. "Well, we were getting there to grab my stuff like I said we would but when we got there, the guards were already inside. I tried to go in but they wouldn't let until I finally managed to get inside and when I saw them grab my mom's stuff, I just tried to get them let it go but the guards said I was being a nuisance and was about to throw me out when Murphy reacted and pushed the guy away from me before the other guards got to him and well, after that we were in cuffs." The girl finished relaying the events for Clarke who just nodded her head.

"Well, you just need to know that everything is going to be okay and you don't have to worry about anything, okay? In here, maybe boring but you are safe and we will find a way to get you out of here soon but for now, I need you to be strong and hold on for me for as long as you can. We love you. Never forget that." Clarke said and the girl nodded. Clarke told Charlotte that her parents and Raven would be stopping by to see her and that she would be tired of seeing them so much.

At least she made her laugh and calmed her until they had to say goodbye, though she promised Wells was coming in to see her too which made the girl happy. Then she walked out of the cell as she was escorted to Murphy's passing by Wells as he was escorted to Charlotte's cell. Once the guard opened the door, she saw Murphy standing and she quickly went and hugged him as he hugged her back. "I already told Junior I am okay." He said strongly and she nodded before pulling back and sitting in the bed in front of his as he sat down as well.

"I don't doubt it." She said and he nodded. "I just couldn't let him do to her what he did to me, you know? He is a sick bastard that need to pay." He said angrily and she nodded. "If we had known he was there, I would have offered to go and so would have Raven." She said and he shook his head. "I'm glad it was me though. Do you know how long I have waited to punch that jackass in the face? Ever since he came for my Dad and I finally did it. Knocked one of his teeth out. I only regret not breaking more. I will never forgive him for what he did." He said and she nodded.

What he said was exactly the opportunity she needed. It was perfect. This was the moment to do it so she looked at him and smiled. "I know. Forgiveness is not our thing, is it?" she said and she could instantly see his eyes open wide the same way Kane's did and she waited before she noticed the process was over. He looked around before he looked at her who smirked at him. "Welcome back, cockroach." She said as he smirked back at her once he recognized what she had called him and what the situation was. They were back in time.


	22. Good Idea

Good idea

"Princess." He said and she nodded before they stood up and hugged each other once again. "I am sorry. I'm so sorry." She said and he pulled back to look at her. "For what?" he asked as she ran her hand on her hair. "For everything. But most recently, for what happened at the island with Emori, I shouldn't have tried to use her for the tests. Raven was right, there was no difference between us and the Mountain Men." she said sincerely and he nodded. "Yeah, that was shitty." He said and she nodded smiling. "Shouldn't you be telling me that it was okay, that you understand why I did it?" she said and he smirked.

"Sorry, but blind forgiveness, that is your thing with Bellamy, not me. I am a realist and it was a shitty thing to do. Though I do understand why you did it. I mean it was not okay, like at all to do that to my girlfriend even after I had asked you not to but in the end, you went back and did the right thing so as far as I'm concerned, we're good." He said and she chuckled. "That was my thing with Bellamy, it won't be again. He is not going to get the same passes he did before whenever he screwed up even because I will keep a tight grip on him so he doesn't ever screw up like that again." She said as they sat down.

"Okay now, tell me why you woke me up?" he asked and she sighed before explaining to him. "I was going to wake you up a little before we agreed when and how you would get arrested so that we would have time to really sit down and talk about what the plan would be and what not but since you went and did that all by yourself and sooner than I had planned, I decided that at least remembering things would help you in here and would help me as well." She said and he nodded understanding. "Sorry, not sorry. But you did stop me from burning Johnson's quarters like I did last time." He said and she nodded.

"Of course, it would have helped no one if you did that. It certainly wouldn't have helped me." She said and he smirked. "So why was it so important for you to make me be friends with the other three?" he asked and she smirked. "One of the reason if not the most important one is because when we get down, I need you to keep an eye on Wells and Charlotte. With the two of them being friends, I don't need to worry about Charlotte killing him but let's not forget she was not the only one with a strong hate for Jaha and him so I need you to keep Wells safe especially from Bellamy." She explained and he nodded.

"Why Bellamy?" he asked already with an inkling to the answer. "Because with that little asshole group of yours, he got Wells' bracelet off and that can't happen again Murphy. If no one else's, then at least mine and Wells' bracelets must never come off since Bellamy was right about our parents keeping a close watch on the monitors, they need to stay on at least until Raven comes down and we get to talk to the Ark through the radio which I will not let Bellamy destroy." She said and he nodded understanding. "Yeah, don't worry. No one is going to touch Junior or Braids, I may be awake now but I still consider them my friends the same as I did 15 minutes ago so don't worry." He said to her sincerely and she smiled.

"I know and that makes me really glad." She said and he smiled. "Now, given your friendship with Kane, I'm guessing he remembers too." He said and she nodded. "Yes, he does. I decided to let him be the first one awake because I needed his help and guidance on what to do and also because he is in the Council so he also helps to keep me informed of what is going on in there and besides, I had a little mission for him." She said and he was curious. "What mission?" he asked. "To bond with Bellamy." She said and he chuckled. "Of course."

"Shut up. I did it because whether intentionally or not, Kane became like a father figure to Bellamy down there but they didn't know each other that well and for not trusting Kane, he followed Pike and we know how that turned out so I am trying to change that." She said and he frowned. "He needs to die, Clarke. Pike needs to go and fast." He said but she shook her head. "I know but the thing is, without Pike, Farm station won't stand a chance once they come down in the Azgeda territory. We need him long enough for him to keep them alive. After that, I will kill him myself." She said and he nodded.

"What about Raven? Are you not going to wake her up?" he asked and she shook her head. "No, not yet. Our version of Raven, I need her only when she comes down, I don't want her burdened now by everything that happened down there, I need her to stay just as she is now for a little longer." She explained and he nodded before he asked. "And Lexa? How are you holding up on that front?" she sighed at the mention of her love. "I don't know. On one side, every day that passes just makes me miss her more and I get sadder about the fact that she is down there and has no idea I even exist." She said.

"On the other hand, every day that passes just remind me that I'm a little closer to seeing her again and being with her like it is supposed to be so I get happy. You see, I am a mess of confusion. A certified one at that too." She said and he smiled. "I understand what you mean." He said and she nodded. "And what about Lexa? When are you going to wake her up?" he asked and she smiled. "Immediately. The moment we meet again, I will wake her up. She is the only one that I can't stand the thought of waiting to do it. I need her to remember me, us, as quickly as possible." She said and he smirked.

"She really got you, didn't she?" he said and she nodded. "Completely," She said and he smirked, "So bad that last night with what happened with Charlie's parents and all, it brought back the memory of my Dad dying so when I went to sleep, I dreamt about it, only that instead of my Dad, it was Lexa being floated. It was so bad that I had a panic attack and I asked to go see the Earth just so that I could feel her and I did. I was able to have a beautiful dream after that." She said and he chuckled. "It only shows that you're head over heels for her." He said.

"Well, what about you? When do you plan to get arrested?" he asked her and she shrugged. "No idea yet. Do you have any good ones?" she asked him and he seemed to think before he smirked. "The party where Octavia gets caught, you can try to defend her and end up arrested with her. That would earn you points with her and the big brother." He said and she smiled nodding her head at him. "It's actually a very good idea. And it would still give Wells time to get himself arrested as well." She said and he nodded.

"Well then that is the plan." She said and he nodded just as the guards opened the door. "Time is up." the man said and they nodded as they stood up to hug each other tightly. "You got this, blondie." He said in her ear and she smiled. "I do prefer you calling me that over princess, dickhead." She said as they pulled back and she walked towards the door before turning to look at him. "You know, I do love you, John." She said and he smirked, "I love myself too, blondie." He said and she shook her head. "Love you too." He said and she nodded before she left with a smile on her face as the door closed and he lay down on the bed to let his memories adjust themselves a little better.

Clarke saw Wells waiting for her and they grabbed their things from the guards and left the Sky Box. "How was your talk with him?" Wells asked her and she sighed smiling. "I would say productive. Yours with Charlie?" she asked and he sighed. "Emotional. We pretty much spent the time bad mouthing my Dad but at least I got her laughing for a while which was good and Murphy said he would watch over her as best as he could." He said and she smiled. She knew that despite his old memories having return, John would be even more protective of Charlotte now so there was no need to worry about that.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked her once they were back at the dining hall and she sighed. "I am visiting Aunt Callie. She was really worried about me yesterday and if she talked to my mom which by now she probably has, she must be even more worried." She said and he looked at her. "Why would she be more worried now?" he asked and she sighed, she hadn't meant to let him know about what happened but there is no way back no so she did. "You see, yesterday, I had an emotional break down and a nightmare followed by a panic attack but I am better now and I want to let her know that." She said and he held her back so she stopped.

"Are you sure you're okay? You have never had one of those before." He asked worriedly and she nodded, despite being a lie. She constantly had panic attacks when she was in her exile. "Positive. Now, I really have to go. I will see you tomorrow." She said and kissed his cheek and hugged him before she went in the direction of her Aunt's place. On the way there, she let her mind drift towards Lexa as she tried to focus on the good memories they had made there and tried to forget the dream she had the night before. Seeing Lexa being floated like that was too much for her to bear. The way she died before was already too much for Clarke but in this particular scenario, it was unbearable to think.

Before, Clarke had tried to drive away her thoughts of Lexa, the memory of her blood pouring out of her body and her eyes losing their life by sleeping with Niylah, much like she had done before with the memories of the Mountain during the time when she had left her people and civilization altogether, it hadn't worked then and it didn't work after either. The trade post girl became a good friend but that was all she ever was, ever could be and despite their sexual relationship, Clarke could never see them together as in more than just sex buddies.

With Finn, nothing of nothing romantic or sexual would happen between them this time. She does want for them to become friends because he was a really good one before the craziness settled in and she would always have a special place for him in her heart but anything past that is a huge NO. He is Raven's to do with him what she wants and Clarke was going to stay out of it. The world had enough of a Reyes - Collins – Griffin love triangle for them to go for a second round, besides Raven is her friend so even in the events that there was no Lexa in the game, Finn was forbidden for her but in the end, of course, the real reason all comes down to the fact that her heart, herself belongs to Lexa and no one else.

She doesn't, can't imagine spending her life with anyone, anyone except the Commander and she knew that Lexa felt the same way about her, that she felt how powerful their connection and their love was. It was no wonder their relationship was in the center of what the future could become, either good or bad, it all came down to them. But once they were reunited and their people were one, she would not stay one minute away from the woman she loves again. Two times doing that was enough. One because of her death and the second one being now. Lexa was hers and she was Lexa's and no one, not even Titus was going to ruin what they have that is so special. Third time is not the charm. There will be no third time.

With those thoughts in mind, she finally arrived at her destination, feeling herself a little tired from all of the emotional exercises she has had since the day before and what happened today so far so she lazily knocked on the door three times and waited a few seconds. She looked around just as the door opened and revealed Callie who had a worried look on her face that Clarke already expected to which she smiled and went to hug the woman who almost crushed her in such a tight hug. "You talked to Mom." Clarke acknowledged and felt the woman nod her head.

"Yes, I did. She was so worried about what happened last night and she had every reason to be. You had a very bad case of a panic attack, Clarke. That is not nothing." Callie said and Clarke nodded, "I know but I'm okay, Aunt Callie. I promise. It was bad and I am still recovering from it but I am better now. I swear." She said and the woman pulled back to examine her face for traces of sadness but she didn't find them so she nodded. "Okay but you are going to tell me everything that happened. I almost had a heart attack when your mom told me about what happened to you and your friends." She said as she closed the door and Clarke walked in. Kane obviously wasn't home or else he would have come to greet her.

"Come on, let's sit down here." Callie said and Clarke nodded sitting down and curling up her legs as she turned to Callie who sat down fully facing her and was waiting for her to start her story attentively. "Spill out, Clarke. I want to know everything that happened form the beginning." She said and Clarke smiled as she nodded. "Very well then, I will tell you. It all started yesterday when Wells and I were playing chess…" she started on her story and they went on talking for the rest of the afternoon.


	23. One step closer

One step closer

It was hard adjusting to a routine without Murphy and Charlotte, all three of the remaining friends could feel the empty spaces that graced them now that two of their friends were in prison and it was hard for everyone but they promised to stick together and that is exactly what they did. They rearranged their days to make sure that they would each visit the other two at least twice a week, the three would go together and visit their friends and Clarke and Wells would wait for Raven while she visited her boyfriend in which Clarke earned more than a few smirks from Murphy when he learned of that which earned him a couple of slaps in the back of the head from Clarke.

With Charlotte, she was definitely better than what Clarke remembered, the 'basket case' like Raven under A.L.I.E's influence called her was not there. Murphy told her that she still had nightmares but they weren't so frequent as they had been before and she knew that she has helped Charlotte this time around much more than she did back then, obviously. He also said that he was taking care of her during the moment where they were allowed to leave their cells for a while and that he would make her smile and Clarke thanked him to which he dismissed her and said that Charlie was like a little sister to him and he didn't want what happened to her back then to happen to her in this time.

Clarke also started to train harder with Kane and by herself, she wanted her body to be fit for when they came down and she was also using the exercise as an outlet for her frustration at having to wait so long, it was becoming harder and harder to just sit back and wait for time to pass by. She wanted to be on Earth despite everything that would and could happen. She wanted out of this tin can and she complained as such to Kane who smiled as he understood how after being on the planet, this would feel so constricting but he advised her to have more patience and to hold on a little longer.

He was a good listener especially when she talked about Lexa and how she missed her, how she wanted to be with her as soon as possible and feeling dejected knowing there was still so long before that would happen. He always had a warm smile when she talked about the girl and always had a word of encouragement in regards to that particular subject. She also told him about Murphy's idea of getting arrested along with Octavia and he agreed that it was a very good way for her to do it, she agreed and gave him a few instructions on what to do while she was in prison and to always come and talk to her to which he readily agreed.

And that was how 3 more months went by. After a while, everything went back into their places, they adjusted to their new normal and things were overall working out very well for Clarke, so far so good. Her friends were always there for her as she was there for them, her parents were also a little more protective of her ever since that night but she ensured them that she was fine, which she was, and told them that it was just the exhaustion and shock about everything that happened that day that got her like that. They didn't feel so sure about it but a couple of times saying it and proving to them that she was indeed fine and they relaxed a little and she was thankful for it.

Clarke woke up that morning and immediately her mind reminded her that today was the day she would get herself arrested. Originally, Octavia got arrested at the Unity day party because it was a masquerade ball and Bellamy had thought that she would be able to go without anyone questioning her identity but it had backfired. Thing is Clarke had warned Kane about it and he changed the theme to a normal party so Bellamy didn't take his sister then and she didn't get arrested and that gave Kane the time he needed to get even closer to the boy however today's part is a masquerade one and Kane has assigned Bellamy on duty just as it happened in the original one so no doubt what happened in the other party was going to happen on this one too.

She got up and got ready before she came out of her room and went to have breakfast with her parents. Once they were sitting down, her mother started a conversation. "Are you going to the party today sweetie?" Abby asked and Clarke nodded. "All three of us will. Raven promised we would have a great time so Wells and I are entertaining her and her crazy ideas." She said and they smiled, these past 6 months, they got to know Raven quite well. Much like on the other time, Raven and her mother had a great connection and became good friends which was something Clarke personally loved and her Dad and Raven were tight as ever.

"Okay but remember, no drinking too much. You're still a minor but since I know that you are also a teenager, all I will say is to behave which means I don't want you getting completely wasted, okay?" Her mom said and Clarke smiled, she may be 17 but she is not a child and she is glad that her mother is starting to realize that. It will help deal better with Clarke's future responsibilities. As for the matter at hand, she only smiled. "I know, Mom. Don't worry." She said and obviously, she knew there was no point in saying that. "Of course I am going to worry, I'm your mother. It's part of the job description, constant worry." She said and Clarke, Jake and Abby smiled.

"Relax, Abby. She knows how to take care of herself very well. She is going to be just fine." Her Dad said warmly and Clarke swallowed down a lump on her throat. Fine, she would be but not like he was suggesting after all she would spend the next 6 months in prison then she will be sent down to Earth. She said goodbye to them and went to class. Pike was unbearable especially after he learned of Murphy's arrest but Clarke simply moved from provoking him to full out ignoring him and his classes. Wells, being her friend since they were on diapers, could see something was wrong with her so once the class was over, he approached her.

"Hey, are you okay? You seemed particularly distant today in class, even more so than the other days. Is there a problem?" Wells asked as they walked to the dining hall to have lunch with Raven, a tradition they didn't lose despite the loss they suffered on their numbers. She nodded at him. "Yeah, I was distant but there is no problem going on, I promise. I guess I am just a little nervous about the party, we didn't usually go to them so it's kind of a new experience and I am sure Raven would make it even more so." She said to him and he smiled before an arm wrapped around her shoulder. "You can bet it will be an experience, Griffster." Raven said as she met up with them and the other two smiled.

"You're not planning anything crazy, are you?" Wells asked the mechanic and Raven gave them a wicked smiled. "Oh. God have mercy on us." Clarke said shaking her head and they laughed as they went to grab their food and sit down on their usual table. "What time is the party anyway?" Wells asked and Raven answered. "6PM, whatever that means, it's not like we know when it's day and when it's night without the help of a clock." She said and the other two nodded while Clarke thought that soon enough they would know the difference and be able to see the beauty of the sky from the opposite view.

They continued talking until they finished their lunch and went their separate ways. It was Friday and usually it was the day they would go together to stay at Murphy's place and hang out but ever since him and Charlie were arrested, they didn't feel like doing the same thing so Fridays, they would each spend however they liked so Clarke went to the window and stayed there. Today, she was taking one step closer to being reunited with the girl she loves and she couldn't wait for the moment when she could feel Lexa's arms around her and the feel of her lips kissing her and her touch all over her body. Clarke missed how she smells, how her hair fells when she plays with it, how blindingly beautiful her smile is and hearing her say those 3 words. She missed Lexa badly but she would wait.

She waited all her life, a few more months will be okay and after a long time there, she went back and went to get ready. Clothes were pretty much the same and while getting ready Clarke remembered when the sky people joined the coalition and she bowed to Lexa. The Commander was beautiful in that dress and Clarke also felt powerful on hers and with how Lexa was looking at her, she knew the woman found her beautiful too which made her feel very good about herself. But this time, she really wasn't going for the beautiful look, more like practical.

She wore a red shirt, black pants and her boots, she wasn't planning to come back home again since she would go straight from the party to the Sky Box so this would have to work, she grabbed the mask Raven got her and went out of her room and her parents were there. "You look great, honey." Abby said as she noticed Clarke coming out of her room and Clarke smiled. "Thanks, Mom." She said. "Hey, be careful with the boys." Her Dad said. "Oh I almost forgot, the girls too." He said and she chuckled before she went to hug them.

First she hugged her mom tightly taking her time to really engrave this moment in her memory and she pulled back smiling at the older woman before she moved to hug her father also tightly and then pulled back to look at both of them. "I love you guys so much." She said sincerely and they both smiled t her. "We love you too sweetheart, more than anything." Her mother said and her Dad nodded and she smiled. "See you guys later." She said and they nodded and with that she left, knowing she wouldn't see that place anytime soon.

The party wasn't for the adults which is why her parents were not going as well, it was only for the teenagers above 12 and under 25 years old which was not that big of a number, especially since the rest of the young people were imprisoned. She walked through the halls and already could hear the sound of music pumping through the metal walls of the Ark. It didn't take long for Clarke to find Wells and Raven as they were by the entrance waiting for her. She quickly came to their side. "Hey." She greeted hugging them and they smiled.

"Hey, I was saying to Wells that this is looking good though they are definitely too many guards. They are going to end ruining our fun. I'm telling you." She said and Clarke took a look around. Indeed, there were a bunch of them but she only searched for one in particular and when she saw Bellamy with his gaze attentively at the dance floor, she followed it and saw her. It was Octavia, she would recognize her anywhere. Clarke knew that it wouldn't take long before the situation happened so she needed to make the most out of the time she had.

"Let them brood all they want, why don't we go in and have fun?" she said and her friends nodded as the three of them went inside and Clarke and Raven pulled Wells to dance, Clarke dragging them undeniably closer to the girl of the night. She always kept Octavia on her gaze and within reach waiting for an opportunity and after a few songs, Wells said he needed to go to the bathroom and Raven said she would get them something to drink and left as well so this was her chance and very swiftly, Clarke started dancing and walking backwards until she bumped with the girl.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking, did I hurt you?" she asked the girl and from her peripheral view, she could see Bellamy tense as he watched their interaction but she also knew he wouldn't risk his cover and getting his sister caught just because two people bumped a little so she knew she was safe for now, though she wasn't sure for how much longer until the guards ended the party and they got arrested. "Yes, I wasn't looking either. I'm fine." Octavia said and Clarke could not help but notice the difference in the voice of this young girl and the tough warrior she will become.

"I'm really sorry. My name is Clarke and yours?" she asked and the girl seemed a little tense but Clarke gave her a sincere smile and she seemed to relax enough to speak. "I'm Octavia." She said and they shook hands. "This is such a nice party." Clarke said trying to continue the conversation and started dancing and so did Octavia and the girls had a fun time together. She then looked around for her friends and she could see Wells talking with a girl who appeared to be Jessica and they were laughing which made her smile. He deserved to be happy too.

Raven was by the punch talking with Wick and someone else she didn't know and they were laughing and she was relieved, things couldn't be going any better for her, Murphy really did have a very good idea. She and Octavia continued to dance and chat, Clarke of course staying on safe topics of conversation for a while until the lights went up and a voice said through the speakers. "Breach in the containment system. Breach in the containment system. All citizens direct to the shelter areas." Clarke could see Octavia panicking, not knowing what to do so she came to help the girl.

"It's okay, let's go this way." She held her hand and directed her somewhere else away from where they were dancing but when they were walking Bellamy came to grab his sister's hand and shot her a look. "I will take her from here." He said but she nodded and let her go but as soon as they tried to leave Lieutenant Shunmway came inside the room and Clarke knew the times has come. "Ladies and gentlemen, you know the drill. Masks of. ID chips out." He said and Clarke came closer to the siblings without letting them notice her presence. "Bell, what do we do?" Octavia asked as she looked at her brother in utter despair as he tried to think of something and Clarke watched waiting for her cue to finish this last stage of her plan.


	24. Assurance

Assurance

"Listen to me, whatever happens, you get back home, you get under the floor, you will safe there." Bellamy said as looked at his sister and before he looked around trying to find a way out of this situation for him, his mother and his sister. "What are you going to do?" Octavia asked him and he grabbed his bat. "Creating a distraction." He said as he made to step forward when suddenly, she held him back by the arm and he looked at her. "Bell, how do I get home?" she asked, more like whispered and she looked so scared that Clarke felt bad for not being able to stop this from happening.

Clarke could see Bellamy freeze as he realized that she didn't know how to walk around the ark which meant she didn't know how to go back to their home and even if he managed to distract the guards, she could still get into trouble. And that was just the moment that Shumway chose to come to where they were. "Cadet Blake, why is your weapon out? Mask of." He said to Bellamy before he took Octavia's mask away as she trembled with fear, so different from the girl who entered the conclave and won the right to the bunker. "She is fine, sir. I already scanned her." He said trying to excuse them but Shumway looked at him suspiciously.

"You don't have a scanner. ID, please." He said to the girl and that was when Clarke chose to step in. "Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere." She said as she came to Octavia's side and held onto her arm. She could see Bellamy's desperate and shocked face as he looked at her. "Miss Griffin, please step aside." The guard said and she looked at him. "Why? I was looking for my friend and now I found her and we are leaving for the shelter as instructed." She said and was about to pull Octavia away with her when Shumway grabbed his weapon.

"ID. Now and you are not going anywhere." He said to both of them and Clarke stopped. "Please, Lieutenant Shumway, I am begging you, she needs to leave. As a fellow guardsman, just let us walk out of here and I will do anything you want. Anything." Bellamy whispered to the Lieutenant and Clarke knew it was about to go down, this particular guard was known for being bribed, not for leniency especially with something like this but in this particular case, she knew from the files that he would arrest the girl despite what the older Blake offered so she quickly moved to Bellamy's side.

"You are not a guardsmen yet, Cadet and it seems that you, Miss Griffin, have a thing for befriending criminals." He said towards her and Clarke decided this was it, she had something else planned on her mind about how she would get herself arrested but when he said that about her friends, she changed her mind. She grabbed Bellamy's bat and hit the guard as he fell down. "Never insult my friends again." She said as she kept hitting and shocking him until she was hit with a bat from behind, possibly from another guard who came to help his superior until she lost consciousness and the last thing she saw was Octavia being grabbed by two guards before everything went black.

When Clarke finally came back to herself which felt like hours later and started opening her eyes again though the light was blinding her a little, slowly she could feel she was in a bed, not very comfortable but again, no bed in the Ark was comfortable, to be completely honest, but it made her wonder if her plan didn't work, if she was back at her room but when she fully opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling she recognized it as a cell, more precisely the same one she was in before and she smiled before she started laughing. It had worked. It had actually worked. She was in the Sky Box.

"Why the hell are you laughing Clarke?" She heard a soft and young voice say as she recognized the owner of that voice and turned her head to the side where she was greeted by Charlotte's smile. "Did the fall mess it up with your head?" the girl asked titling her head in confusion and Clarke smiled at her before she sat up and ushered the girl to her side and soon enough a body collided with hers as she wrapped her arms around her. "I missed you." Charlotte said against her shoulder and Clarke smiled. "I missed you too." She said as she looked around. "Charlie, what happened?" she asked since she didn't remember much.

"You don't remember?" the girl asked as she pulled back and sat on the bed by Clarke's side who turned her body to look at her. "No, not really." She said which was not a lie, she didn't remember how she ended up in here and Charlotte nodded. "Well, I was here sleeping when the doors opened and the guards brought you in unconscious and Kane was with them and said that you had been arrested for attacking a guard and would await for your hearing in 6 months when you were 18 years old like the law says and he told me to tell you that your parents are furious with the guards but that he is taking care of that and then he left." She explained and Clarke nodded.

"What happened, Clarke?" the girl asked not understanding why her friend was there and they settled on what looked like Clarke's designated bed as the older girl explained what happened at the party, how she met Octavia and how the party ended because of the containment breach, then she told about the younger girl what happened with the ID of the girl she had met. "Do you know who Lieutenant Shunway is?" Clarke asked and Charlotte nodded. "Yes, I hate him." She said and Clarke smiled. "So do I. Well, after pushing for the ID of the girl and realizing I was with her, he looked at me and he said that I had a thing for being friends with criminals and that was when I lost it. You and Murphy are not criminals." She said firmly.

"Thanks. But what happened after he said that? What exactly did you do that would get you in here?" Charlotte asked curious to know the answer to that question. "Well, I grabbed a shock bat from the other guard's hand and hit him, he fell down on the floor and I continued hitting him with it over and over again until they had to knock me out to make me stop." She said shrugging and the girl looked at her in shock. "No, you didn't." she said and Clarke smiled nodding her head. "I did and said he should never insult my friends ever again." She told the young girl and Charlotte was still shocked and Clarke gave her a big smile. "You guys are my family and family protects each other, right?" Clarke said and Charlotte nodded.

"But now you're here. What about your parents? At least Murphy and I had no one to worry about us." She said sadly and Clarke pulled her in for a hug. "My parents will survive this and so will I and you two have a lot of people that care for you both. You are not alone, never forget that, okay?" She said and the girl nodded. "Now, tell me what have you and the dumbass been up to since we last saw each other." She said as she looked at the younger girl happy that they were together. Last time, she spent a year in solitary, now she would spend 6 months with a friend, it was certainly an improvement.

Charlotte started talking about what she did in the two days since Clarke last came to visit and how Murphy kept teasing her about her birthday that was coming up and Clarke smiled as she talked also about the crazy things Raven talked about on lunch that she never understands and that was how they spent the next 3 hours, just talking until there was a noise and the door opened to reveal a guard. "Prisoner 319, you have visitors." He said and she nodded. "Come with me." he said and she looked at Charlotte.

"I'll be right back." She said and kissed the top of the girl's head as she let the guard handcuff her, at least he was rude about it and was even gentle while doing it. She followed him out of the cell through the hall and into a room and when he fully opened the door, she could see her parents inside it. She smiled at them. "Mom, Dad." She said and rushed to them as they both hugged her and she could feel her mother's heavy breathing and tears falling on her shirt. "Hey kiddo." Her Dad said shakily as he cradled the back of her head and hugged both of his girls closer to his chest before Clarke finally pulled back.

"Oh sweetie." Her mom said as she looked at the handcuffs on her wrists and Clarke smiled. "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt. Why don't you sit down so we can talk?" She said and they nodded. There was a table with four chairs so they sat down, Clarke sitting opposite her parents. "First of all, I just want to say that I am deeply sorry if I disappointed you or hurt you in any way. I didn't mean to. It all just happened so fast. He insulted Murphy and Charlotte and I guess I just lost it but I don't regret I hit him. Second, don't worry about me. Charlie is my roommate and we were having a great time just now so relax Mom, I'm okay." She said to them.

"Clarke, we understand that you were trying to defend your friends and we are proud of you for it but attacking a guard in front of everyone, hitting him until he passed out from the shocks? That was uncalled for and so not you." Abby said and Clarke nodded agreeing with her mother, not the last part though. It was like the new her to so something like that,, they just didn't know yet. "I know I overreacted but I guess there is no point in thinking about that anymore. I did what I did and I am here now but in a few months, I will get out of here. I promise." She said and of course she knew her parents would think she was talking about her new hearing but she was talking about the trip to Earth.

Soon enough, she would be entering the dropship on the way back to their planet, their home, to a new life and just a few miles away from her love. This couldn't be better, actually. She was quite in peace with how things were going on. "I tried to talk to Jaha but he wouldn't listen to me." Jake said and Clarke shook her head. "Dad, no. I don't want you getting into trouble because I am here, especially not with Jaha. And don't you dare eve think about threatening him to tell everyone about what you know because it's not going to work. He is only going to float you and I don't want to receive that news. Ever, you hear me?" Clarke said and he looked at her confusedly.

"How did you know that was what I was going to do?" he asked her and Abby turned to him. "Jake!" she said angrily and he looked at her. "Abby, I couldn't let him do this to our daughter." He said to her as if it explained everything she needed to know of his reasons to think that was a viable solution to the problem at hand. "Dad, look at me." Clarke said as she held his hands with both of her own as he turned to look at her. "I know you wanted to do that because I would do something like that too and like Mom always says, we are very much alike." She said jokingly and they smiled.

"But you can't do it, under any circumstance. You're only going to get yourself killed and I know myself and you know me as well, I will start thinking that it was my fault and it would just bring everyone more pain and I don't want to lose you Dad. The only reason I am okay is because I know that you two are okay and that when I leave here, you will both be there to hug me and welcome me back. Please don't do anything to ruin that. I don't want to lose my father. Promise me that no matter what happens, you are not going to do anything stupid and brave. I need to know that." She said seriously as she looked at him and he sighed.

He was never able to say no to his little girl and he didn't think he would be starting right now so theonly thing that was left for him to do, he did. He nodded at her. "Okay, I promise I won't do anything stupid to get me killed but you need to promise to not get into any more trouble so that we can get you out of here in 6 months, okay?" he said seriously as well and she nodded. "I promise." She said though she knew it wouldn't be an easy thing to do and in the end wouldn't matter anyway. "Are you okay? I checked on you before they brought you in. And there was nothing wrong but how are you feeling now?" Abby asked and Clarke smiled.

She never appreciated her mother's concern before, especially not after she found out about her part in her father's death but now as she was having a second chance to be a better daughter, she decided to enjoy it and also she didn't want to make the same mistakes again. She wanted to be a better daughter. "I am fine, Mom. My memory is just a bit hazy after I attacked him and was shocked but Charlotte already filled me in and I think that what I am the most is hungry." She said and they smiled, at least they could see she was fine and that gave them a little relief.

The door opened and the same guard came in. "The visit is over." He said and she nodded as they stood up and hugged her again tightly in a group hug and then separately which made her chuckle, especially when her mother refused to let her go, her father needing to convince her that they needed to let her leave. "We love you so much." Abby said crying and Clarke smiled. "I love you both so, so much." She said and turned to leave the room as the guard escorted her back to her cell and she had a smile on her face all the way there.

PHASE ONE – COMPLETE SUCCESS


	25. First two days

First two days

It was Sunday, the day after the party happened and she was arrested and as a rule, there were no visitors allowed for them up until Tuesday so Clarke knew that she wouldn't be seeing anyone of her friends for the next two days and with nothing to do in the cell but to look at the ceiling and talk to Charlie, she decided to train herself despite the small space, it would just have to work. So very early in the morning, she started exercising, Charlotte still asleep. She started with stretching her muscles all the way and once she was finished with that, she started doing sit ups.

Three series of 25 sit ups, five series of 20 pushups and Clarke didn't noticed it before but on their cell, there was a bar that Clarke remembered hadn't been there before in the other timeline and she knew there was only one person that could have done this for her and it was Kane, so she made a mental note to add this to the long list of things she needs to thank him for and with that she did some pull ups when finally after a few hours, Charlotte started to wake up to come face to face with Clarke doing all of that.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously as she stopped and watched Clarke put her legs on the bar and fall backwards before she started doing reverse sit ups. "This is called exercising. It's good for the muscles and the stamina of the body as well for the mind. It helps me relax sometimes." She said as she kept doing it. "Who taught you?" the girl asked and Clarke could hear the curiosity on the tone of her voice and smiled at her. "No one taught me, silly. I had a book with images of exercises like this and I started copying them in my room. That was how I learned." She said and it wasn't a lie.

She did found a book like that, that showed images and explanation about the movements and it was on top of her desk in her room, the perfect cover for her knowledge on such a thing. There was no other way to get pass the suspicion of her skills in fighting if she wasn't training to be a cadet. "Can I try?" the little girl said after watching for a while and Clarke stopped before she looked at the girl while hanging upside down. "This one I am doing?" She asked and the girl nodded smiling as Clarke chuckled. "How about we start with an easy one first?" she said as she got down from the bar. "Do five of these." She said and showed the girl how to do a push up and waited.

Charlotte could barely do two before she fell onto the floor, panting for air. "Why is it so hard?" she groaned and Clarke smiled at her. "It's not hard. You are just not used to it so your muscles are crying out because they are unused to it but with time and a lot of practice, you will be able do it. This one and many more." She said as she did a few more herself before calling a day and drying herself off with the towel she was given. Charlotte tried again. This time she could do 3. "See? Time and practice." Clarke said and the girl nodded.

"What do you think is going to happen to us now, Clarke?" Charlotte said as she got up from her place on the floor and sat on her bed, crossing her legs up and facing Clarke. "What do you mean?" she asked the young girl. "Are we really going to get out of here or will they kill us? At least, with me." She said and Clarke sighed. "I want you to look at me and pay very close attention to what I am going to say to you right now, okay? It is very important that you listen, alright?" she said and the girl nodded as she paid attention to her friend.

"You are not dying here or anytime soon. You are going to get old and have your family and Wells and I will be the responsible uncle and aunt and Raven and Murphy will be the crazy ones and we will be very happy, all of us. You understand?" Clarke said firmly and a tear went down Charlotte's face but she quickly wiped it out without losing her smile. "Do you really think so?" she asked and Clarke smiled. "I know so. Just trust me. This is not where, much less when it ends for us." Clarke said and the girl smiled.

"I trust you." She said firmly and sincerely and Clarke smiled. "Good." She said as Charlotte made her a question that made her freeze in her place. "What if we were the ones who went to the Earth? How cool would it be?" She asked innocently and Clarke didn't know very well how to answer that question without raising suspicion in the smart little girl so she chose to go with a half-truth, half-hope kind of answer. "It would be awesome. The next generation better make very good use of it or else, I will hunt them down for making us stay up here." She said and Charlotte smiled.

"I will train very hard and then I will help you do that and we will whoop their asses for wasting their chance." She said laughing and Clarke smiled laughing along with her. "It's going to take some time before you are fit to take on anyone but for now, we will continue training so floor. I want those five push-ups we talked about." She said and Charlotte had a determinate look on her face and went into position and started doing it while Clarke watched and helped her when she needed it. She even joined her for a few more series and the time went by so fast.

The next day, after the guards brought them their lunch, they were finally allowed outside of their cells for 2 hours. So as soon as the doors opened, Clarke and Charlotte went in the direction of Murphy's cell, just as the boy was coming out of it and looking for his friend, finally getting to see the new addition coming his way. He smiled at the little one and smirked at Clarke who didn't waste time in hugging him. "Jackass." She said in his ear and he hugged her tighter. "You're here." He said and she understood what he meant and nodded. "I am here." She said before pulling back.

"Hey, braids." He said as he hugged Charlotte who smiled at his nickname for her. "So what did you do to get yourself in here, blondie?" he asked as if he had no idea and he didn't, not completely so she went onto explaining to him what exactly had happened and once she was finished, he started laughing so hard. "Man, what I would have done to have seen that." He said still laughing and she laughed as well. "I am proud of you, blondie." He said and she pushed him slightly. "Dumbass." She said and leaned against the railing with him by her side and Charlotte in front of them.

"But seriously, be prepared for tomorrow. Junior and Tools will eat you alive once they see you. I mean it. They did it to me and what I did wasn't half as bad, I can only imagine what they will do it to you too." He said and she knew he was right but she didn't know how right he was. She thought she was prepared for seeing her other friends and for taking their anger for getting herself in here but by the look on their faces when she entered the visiting room, she knew they were about to berate her real hard and as soon as she sat down and the guards closed the door, Raven was the one to break the silence.

"What in the actual hell?" she almost yelled and Clarke closed her eyes in grimace. "I know, Ray. I am sorry. It just happened." Clarke couldn't find anything better to say at the moment. "What the hell just happened?" Wells asked and by his tone of voice, she was in big trouble but not too long now and he will be here too so he really shouldn't be berating her like this though she was the only one in the room who knew that so she kept quiet. "At the party, Shumway insulted Murphy and Charlottes saying they were criminals and I lost it. I overreacted, I know but I was just so angry when he said that about them that the next thing I know, he was on the floor and I was hitting him with a bat." She said and Wells sighed.

"You're lucky your parents are friends with my Dad." Wells said and Clarke looked at him confusedly. "Why do you say that?" she asked. "Because you haven't seen him, Clarke. His whole face is purple. It's bad. You did a number on him." Raven said almost sounding as if she was proud of her and Wells nodded. "My Dad intervened with him in your favor and warned him that if anything happened to you while you were in here, accident or not, he would pay for it, otherwise, he would have already repaid the favor, believe me. He is not a good person." Wells said and Clarke understood what he meant but she wasn't worried.

She could take on him and his goons. "Well, thank your father for me then." She said to him and he nodded. "What is going to happen to you, Griff?" Raven asked and Clarke sighed. "In 6 months, I get a second hearing and they will decide if I get to live or die. Pretty simple." She said and shrugged. "That is your approach to this? A shrug?" Wells said and she looked at him. "I said this to Charlie and I will say this to both of you. This is not my end, okay? My life will not end now, I just feel within me that this is not the end and I feel that we all will be okay and together again. She said she trusts me with that, do you?" she said and they looked at each other.

"You know we do, Clarke." Wells said and she smiled. "Then don't worry about me. I will be fine besides I got Charlie as my roommate so we have the most fun in that cell." She said and told them about her talks with the girl and her meeting with Murphy the day before and seeing her so calm, composed and happy, the two friends started to relax. "Truthfully, I expected you to be sad." Raven said and Clarke smiled holding her hand. "I am sad we don't get to spend our days all of us together but I'm not sad I am here. I did what I did and I would do it again to protect my friends." Clarke said and Raven nodded.

"I guess I can understand. I would have probably done the same." She said and Clarke squeezed her hand shaking her head. "Raven, you're the only one who can't do something like this because they will float you immediately since you're not a minor anymore so please, no matter what you hear, don't do what I did. None of us want to lose your awesomeness. Okay? We need you more than you will ever know." Clarke said talking not only about her friend but also the genius mechanic that the girl is and Raven chuckled. Wells smiled at what she said.

"Is there anything you need from us?" Wells asked her and Clarke nodded. "Yes, there is. Keep a close eye on my parents. I can't see them every day so I get worried, especially my Dad. He is more like me so you get the whole picture." She said and they all chuckled knowing exactly how Jake was especially where Clarke was involved and with the look she was giving him, Wells understood that she was worried about the glitch and her father getting into trouble for that so he nodded at her.

"Don't worry, we will not let him do anything stupid." He said to her and she smiled at him. "Thank you. You guys are the best friends someone could ask for. I love you guys very much." She said and they nodded. "We love you too Griff. And despite your craziness, you are the best friends someone could have too and no matter what, you can always count with us to be there for you." Raven said and Clarke teared up a little. It was exactly what she needed to hear to keep going and she couldn't wait until she could wake the girl up.

Once again, the same guard opened the door and announced that the visit was over. They said goodbye with hugs and kisses and jokes and Clarke was escorted back to her cell, and once inside, they removed the handcuffs and closed the door leaving the two girls alone and Charlotte was looking at her expectingly. "So how bad was it?" she asked curiously and Clarke laughed. "Raven did want to bite my head off but I know just how to deal with her so it was cool." Clarke said as she lay down on her bed turning to her side to look at the younger girl.

"And Wells?" Charlotte asked and Clarke sighed. "I think he was more hurt than angry. Ever since we were babies, he always wanted to be there to protect me from anything and anyone so I guess deep down he feels like he failed to do that so he will take some time to come back to his normal self but they will both be okay as will we." She said and Charlotte smiled as Clarke turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling as her mind wandered off to a certain brunette girl who was on Earth. Soon, very soon.


	26. Preaprations

Preparations

3 months went by in the blink of an eye ever since Clarke was imprisoned, and nothing big really happened in that amount of time. She continued training, this time she did it every day and about a week after she got there, her parents sent her drawing material much like her mother had done in the other time line and once again she started drawing all over the cell but of course she restrained herself from drawing things she had seen on Earth which was difficult and no drawing of Lexa too, which was even more difficult.

Charlotte started training with her and she had quite the drive to learn everything Clarke could teach her and so every day she would wake up too and follow Clarke's movements and repeat them. Of course, she couldn't do it as well as the older girl but she was way better than she was before she started. They would also draw together though Charlotte couldn't do a very good job at it which earned them a couple of laughs, especially the drawing that Charlotte tried to do of Murphy,, it was ridiculous but Clarke insisted it looked just like him. They would talk and read the books Clarke's parents also sent her.

It was nice to have someone sharing this experience with, someone to talk to, especially a friend. Last time, she was on solitary because Jaha was afraid she would tell everyone what was happening with the Ark but not this time so it was nice having a roommate especially one that she cares about so much. As for Octavia, Clarke only saw her twice and it looked like she didn't come out of her cell very much and Clarke didn't feel like barging in besides you were only allowed to stay within your area, for example, her cell and Murphy's were on the 3rd floor so they were only allowed to walk on the 3rd floor, they couldn't go to the 2nd floor, where Octavia's cell was even if they wanted to.

As for Murphy, he told her he was also training even harder than her every day, he got no roommate so he spent most of his time training which was noticeable from his muscles that were developing and with how much he was training Clarke would dare say he was more athletic than Bellamy which was incredible since he used to be so skinny even after months living on Earth. They also talked a lot about what's coming and what they can do to change it, Murphy had really good ideas to what he replied he was an asshole, but he was not dumb.

About 2 months in after Clarke's arrest, during their time out, the little group saw the guards escorting Wells in. Clarke and Murphy both knew what this meant so they exchanged a look and smiled. The mission to Earth was sanctioned which meant soon enough they would be going down to Earth, Charlotte was the only one confused by it. Luckily, for some reason that Clarke believed was named Marcus Kane, Wells was assigned as Murphy's new roommate. Kane hasn't visited them both yet but now that Wells was here, she knew he would.

"Wells, what are you doing here? How did you get here?" Charlotte asked as she hugged him and he smiled. "I damaged the last tree a little." He said and Murphy started laughing and Clarke smiled as well. "You have got to be kidding me." The laughing boy said and Clarke chuckled as well. "Come on Wells, I know you. Something else is going on." She said getting more serious and so did he. Charlotte pulled away to look at him. He looked around before he came closer.

"Clarke, can we tell them?" he asked and she nodded. "Tell us what?" Charlotte asked and Clarke turned to her. "Charlotte, the only reason we didn't say anything to you guys before is because we could have gotten killed if we did. My parents too, okay?" she said and the girl nodded. "Out with it, Junior." Murphy said and Wells took a deep breath. "The Ark's oxygen supply is running out. There is a glitch that Jake found out but there was nothing he could do to fix it which means…"

"It means we are running out of air." Clarke finished for him. "You have got to be kidding me for real now. We are dying in this place?" Murphy played his part while Charlotte looked at Clarke. "Clarke, you promised me we wouldn't die here, that we would live until we were old." She said with tears in her eyes and Clarke looked at her. "And we will, they just need time to come up with a solution. I know they will." She said pulling the girl to her. "They did find one." Wells said and this was it. "What solution?" Charlotte asked as she clung to Clarke.

"They are sending 100 of us to Earth to see if it is habitable." He said and Charlotte gasped. "Are they crazy?" Murphy said and Clarke shook her head. "Let's not think negatively. Maybe it is habitable and how cool will it be if we get to be the first people on Earth in 100 years?" Clarke said smiling and so did Charlotte after thinking that way. "You think that?" she asked and Clarke smiled. "Yes, I do and so should all of us. This could be huge. We get to go back home." She said and the little girl smiled. "It would be awesome." She said and they smiled.

"And who is going?" Murphy asked and Wells shrugged. "The four of us but I don't know about the rest. "And how is Raven?" Clarke asked. "I told her about the mission and that I was going to get myself arrested to which she was angry but understood why in the end but I didn't tell her why it was happening or that her boyfriend was chosen too." He said and Clarke swallowed. Finn was coming too which means Raven was coming. She didn't know exactly what to feel, happiness or dread, even though she knew he was a part of the 100.

"It was for the better. If she knew, she would have gotten herself into trouble and we all know she can't do it or she gets floated. You did good Wells, you did good." Clarke said and he nodded as they all turned to the railing and leaned into it and looked at the kids. "They have no idea about what is happening and will happen to them." Charlotte said and they nodded. "And it's better that way, Charlie. It could get ugly in here if they knew now." Clarke said and the girl nodded as they continued watching.

It went pretty much all the same after that, the same routine only adding Wells to the equation but about two weeks after his arrival, something did happen. Today, things were different, Clarke was drawing on Charlotte's side of the wall when the door opened and a guard came inside. "Prisoner 319, you have a visitor." He said and she looked at the younger girl in confusion since she wasn't expecting anyone today but she obliged anyway and extended her hands as the handcuffs were locked tight on her wrists then she was escorted once again to the visiting room where she saw her parents there waiting for her, she wanted to smile but by their faces, she had an idea on what was happening.

The guards took her handcuffs off since she never attacked another guard again which allowed them to let her loose during visiting time and left, closing the door behind them as they did. She went to her parents and was enveloped in a bone crushing hug by both of them. She hugged them both as well for some time before she pulled away. "I missed you guys." She said truthfully and they gave her a tight smile. "We missed you sweetie." Abby said shakily as they moved to sit down on the table. "How have you been?" her mom asked and she smiled.

"Great but why don't we go straight to the point? Wells already told us about the Council's decision." She said straightforwardly and her parents sighed. "I figured that was why he got himself arrested." Her Dad said and she smiled. "You know him, of course that was why. So what do you guys came here to tell me?" she asked and they looked at each other. "Your father and I were against this idea but we were outvoted and we have been trying to get you and your friends out of this mission but we couldn't do anything. Marcus said that there was nothing we could do." She said and Clarke sent a silent thank you to him.

It would have been bad if her parents got her out of it. Really bad. The whole mission was counting on her going down with the 100, she really needed to thank Kane for saving her ass, multiple times already, she was very lucky to have his help. "I'm assuming that you couldn't fix the glitch?" she asked her Dad who shook his head. "No, I tried and I tried but nothing can fix it." He said dejectedly and she held his hands. "Then I am glad they sanctioned this mission. It is certainly better to probably die while trying to be in our planet than to die up here besides someone has to do it, right? I would like to be able to step in our planet." She said smiling and her parents looked at her.

"Clarke, why are you so calm about this? There are millions ways on how you could die before you even got to Earth." Her Dad said and she smiled at him, too bad she couldn't tell them the whole truth but that didn't mean she couldn't tell them a little bit of the truth. "If we stay in here, we will die as well, Dad. It's just a matter of time and not that much by what you have told me about it. So if I need to go out, at least it will be trying to return home. To find a safe place for our people to live and not just survive like we have been doing for the past 97 years." She said to them while they looked at her.

"Look, I appreciate your concern and worry, I really do and I understand where you are coming from. It is very dangerous and like you said, about a million things could go wrong on the journey and when we actually get there but I am okay with it. I really am. So is everyone else. We are actually looking forward to it so you don't have to worry about, about me. We're okay. What I need you to do for me is be there for Raven, with all of us in here and her boyfriend too and now with everyone she loves going down to the ground, you two are all she has in this place. Please take care of her. I can't lose her, none of us can." She said.

"I need you to let her know that she is not alone and that we will be waiting for her down there when you decide to come down as well, okay? And don't get into trouble because of this, Dad. I want to do this. It may not have come as choice for us, given that it was a Council decision but even if it was, I would still choose to go." She said firmly and sincerely. "Does this have to do with the connection you say you always felt to Earth?" her Dad asked and she knew it was because of the 4 letter name of that connection but she shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe. But either way, I want to go, not only for that but also for my friends. Someone needs to watch over Murphy or else he will get in all sorts of trouble." She said smiling and so did they. "You're our only daughter, Clarke. We can't lose you." Abby said with tears in her eyes. "Mom, you won't. I promise you, you're not losing me, not now, not ever. I may be older now but I will always need you, both of you. And if it turns out okay, I will be there waiting for you, for us to start a new life." She said looking at both of them.

"You are becoming exactly the woman I dreamt you would be one day. I am so proud of you. I love you so much, kiddo. You are the best thing I have ever made." Her father said and she smiled. "It's all thanks to both of you." She said as the door opened and the guard came in once again. They stood up for a family hug. "Will I see you when it's time to go?" Clarke asked once she pulled back and they nodded. "We wouldn't be anywhere else." Jake said and Clarke smiled. "We will be there, sweetie." Abby said and she smiled.

"I love you guys." She said and they smiled too. "We love you, kid." Her Dad said as the guard put on the handcuffs and closed the door escorting her back to her own cell as she could help but keep the smile on her face. 2 months. 2 months and she would be back, stronger than before, wiser than before and ready for the challenges that would come her way from everywhere. But more than anything, 2 months and she would be on her way back where she always belonged, by Lexa's side. She couldn't wait. 2 months could not come fast enough.


	27. The time has come

The time has come

Raven came to see each one of them and berated them about their stupidity and got angry at everyone because she couldn't be there with them. After all she was almost 19, if she committed a crime, the floating chamber was all that awaited her so she had to accept that all of her friends and her boyfriend were trapped in this place and as far as she knew some of the kids in there were going to Earth, though she didn't know who much less that all of them were going. No one wanted to tell her for different reasons. Wells and Charlotte because he didn't want her to do anything stupid and Clarke and Murphy because they wanted her to do one stupid thing and that was to follow them.

Her parents also started making more visits and Clarke suspected it was because of the approaching day of their trip and their fear and worry of never seeing her again one way or another. Each time she had to convince them that she was fine with it and was actually looking forward to it, of course they couldn't understand why at first but they always knew how much their daughter used to dream and draw about Earth so then they understood why she was excited. There was a chance it could work, a chance for them to see and live on their planet again so they nodded getting her and what she meant.

Time passed but it wasn't two weeks after that meeting with her parents that the same guard come to fetch her once again, she went willingly as usual only this time she could see that Murphy was coming along as well so there was only one person she could think of that would like to talk to both of them together like this and it was Kane and by the look Murphy was giving her, he figured it out too. And when the door opened and they were ushered in, there he was with a smile on his face. The guards removed the handcuffs and Clarke quickly went to hug the man while they left closing the door.

"I'm so glad to see you." She said and he smiled hugging her tightly as well. "Me too. I'm sorry I couldn't come to visit you anytime sooner, there was just too much to do with the preparations for the trip and making sure that everything went a s we planned." He pulled back and turning and extending his hand to the boy who shook it. "Hey, old man. It's cool, we get it." He said and Kane shook his head at the nickname he had received from him before motioned for them to sit down. "Don't worry, the cameras are disabled, courtesy of Raven and there are no bugs in here so we can talk freely." He said and the two teens nodded. "So you already know about the mission to go to Earth, I assume." He said and they nodded.

"Wells told us as soon as he arrived here and my parents came to visit me a few days ago very disturbed by the news. Thank you by the way for stopping them from getting us out of the mission. It would have been bad if they had done it. I need to get down there with the 100." She said and he nodded. "This whole do over thing we are experiencing, this second chance we have rests all upon you to make it work the way it is supposed to be, Clarke. You're the only one who can do this, the rest of us are only here to help you but it is your mission. It's a huge amount of responsibility but you wouldn't be here if Becca didn't believe you could do it." He said and she smiled.

"Thanks Kane. That means a lot but let's get down to business, what can you tell us about the trip? Will it be the same as it was before or are there any changes?" she asked and he nodded taking a deep breath before starting. "Things are going the same way they did before, of course with the difference that your father is alive and still in the Council, he seems to have given up on the idea of speaking out about the failure to the people which is good for him and your family. Jaha is angry that Wells is going but he can do nothing about it and your mother is finalizing overseeing the bracelets." He said and she nodded.

"What about Bellamy? Did you do as I said?" she asked and Murphy interrupted curious since he didn't know anything about Bellamy. "What was the deal with Bellamy?" he asked curios and Clarke remembered that he had been banished before they found out the truth about the guy's past actions and so she turned to him. "In the other timeline, Bellamy was approached by Shumway to shoot Jaha in exchange for a way to get in the dropship for Octavia. He did it obviously and that is what prompted him to try and get the wristbands off. My mom, of course, saves our Chancellor with Kane here almost killing her for it." She said as she looked at the older man.

"Which won't happen again." He said and she smiled. "So I said to Kane to approach Bellamy himself and offer his place in the dropship but without the whole shooting Jaha thing." She said and Murphy nodded. "That way he won't have a reason to take the wristbands off." He concluded and she nodded. "Exactly, he did it for his sister like always and we only found out when Raven came down and she told us. Of course, I got Jaha to pardon him but he shot the man. We need to avoid that." She said and Kane nodded.

"I have made the offer and he has accepted so that was solved." He said and she nodded relieved. "That is very good, one less problem to solve. Kane, you need to be careful of Diana, she will do the same thing again." She said and he nodded. "I know but this time, I will be prepared. I will not let her kill my mother." He said and she nodded. "Exactly, now Kane, I know that Raven will try to find a way to get down there, you need to help her, just make sure she comes exactly when she is supposed to. Not earlier and not later." She said and he nodded.

"I have already secured the piece she will need to make it work and I will give it to her when the time is right. Also, no sector 17. I will not make that mistake again even if you can't make contact in time." He said and she nodded. "That is fine by me. I do need you to continuing keeping an eye on my Dad. I don't want him doing anything stupid before the Exodus." she said before she inched closer and so did the boys. "There is something I need from you that I know is going to be difficult but I really need you to do it for us." She said and Kane nodded. "Tell me." he said and she started explaining what she needed from him.

Once she was done making her request, he nodded. "You're right, it won't be easy to do that but I think I have a way to do it without anyone knowing before or after the dropship launches." He said and she nodded and smiled at him. "When are we going?" Murphy asked and Kane answered. "The same time as before. The dropship is almost finishing getting ready with the supplies you won't have." He said and they nodded as the guard came again to get them. They said goodbye to him. "I will see you both on the day." He said hugging Clarke.

"We know, old man." Murphy said shaking his hand again, and then they both turned as the guards rearranged the handcuffs and pulled them both away. They went back to their cells in silence though it seemed like they exactly what the other was thinking. "See you tomorrow, dumbass." She said and he smirked. "See you, blondie." He said as the guards continued down to escort him to his cell while Clarke was returned to her own. Charlotte was in bed reading one of the books her parents sent for her.

"Who wanted to speak with you?" she asked and Clarke had to lie even though she felt bad about it. "Kane. He came to tell me that my Aunt was a little sick so she couldn't come see me so soon but he came to give me a few messages from her." she said and the girl nodded. "She is your mom's best friend, right?" she said as Clarke came to sit on her own bed facing her and smiled. "Ever since they were little girls. She is my godmother and I always called her Aunt so it stuck." She explained and the girl nodded.

"But you don't call her husband Uncle." She said and Clarke shook her head. "Kane married my Aunt Callie about 4 years ago and I didn't like him at first or second or third, you see he was a jackass but with time he got better and more likeable and now I do consider him like my Uncle. The thing is I just got so used to calling him Kane that I can't seem to call him anything else." She laughed and so did the young girl and they continued talking about family's stories and all before they said goodnight and went to sleep.

The next day during their time out, Clarke told Murphy what she said to Charlotte about the reason Kane visited her and he told her that he said to Wells that a woman who used to be friends with his parents and used to help him and his Dad came to visit him and wish him good luck at his hearing. It wasn't a complete lie, there really was such a person but she never came to visit him, not before and certainly not now but it worked and the other boy believed in him and she nodded. She hated lying to her friends but they couldn't know the truth.

Unfortunately, there was no other way. Becca had warned them that it was very dangerous for them to tell anyone that wasn't part of the group chosen to remember. She warned them that there could be consequences to the timeline and to the person in question if they did so even if they all felt bad for lying to people they cared about, in the end, it was for the better. It was what needed to be done so the two of them sustained their lies to their friends and continued on as if there was nothing else going on.

Wells and Charlotte joined them later and they talked, mostly about Raven until Wells was by the railing when he called their attention. "Guys, look. Do you see that guy on 1st floor with the long hair?" he said pointing to someone as they joined him to see though Clarke and Murphy obviously already knew who he was talking about. "Do you guys see him?" he asked and they nodded. "That is Finn Collins, Raven's boyfriend." He said as they watched the guy talking with others. Clarke gulped down and Murphy put his arm around her shoulder to give her some comfort, she looked at him and mouthed thank you. He shook his head.

The last time she had seen him alive was when she killed him in front of everyone. He looked so scared, so haunted by everything he had seen and done and afraid of what was about to happen to him, she just couldn't let him suffer and killing the Commander was not an option so she offered him the only mercy she could. A knife in the heart. That Finn, the one from her last memory of him looked so different from the carefree boy who was laughing right now. "Well, he is cute. She has good taste." Charlotte said as they continued watching him for a while until it was time to return to their cells. Clarke hugged Murphy. "Thanks." She said. "You're welcome." He said and they all parted ways.

For the last month of their time in the SkyBox, there was no more time out. Everyone was confided in their cells. Of course, last time, Clarke had not known the difference since she was never allowed outside of her cell and her mother had only been allowed to visit her 3 times in the whole year she spent in solitary for treason. But now, being cropped in this cell without getting out after her experience on Earth was doing nothing for her nerves but this time she had an outlet for that frustration and it was to work out and she also had company to talk to and laugh with so it wasn't so unbearable and that way time was spent.

And one day after long months waiting, the time to come home finally came as Clarke was drawing on the floor a view she thought was beautiful that she came across in the many months she spent in self-exile and Charlotte was in bed trying to draw as well, something Clarke had tried to teach her but the girl had no talent for it which caused them good laughs at what she would come up with. She was almost finishing it when she started hearing loud noises coming from outside and as she looked up, she immediately knew what was happening as the door opened and 4 guards came in.

"Prisoners 3-1-2 and 3-1-9, face the wall."


	28. The Ground part 1

The Ground

She looked at the little girl who seemed shocked and confused. Clarke stood up from the ground, dropping her pencil and stared at them as Charlotte got up from her bed and hugged her, hiding behind her a little. "Clarke, what is going on?" she asked scared and she turned to the girl with a comforting smile on her face. "Nothing bad. It's time, remember?" she said lowly so the guards wouldn't hear what they were saying and the girl nodded slowly. "Let's do what they say. Turn to the wall." She said and Charlotte did as she asked though still very much afraid and Clarke turned as they said as well as the young girl.

This time she didn't resist them and their direction given that one, she knew what was happening and two, they weren't trying to take her father's watch from her even because she didn't have it so there was no problem in securing the bracelet on her arm and Charlotte didn't resist it either, only flinching a little when they put it on her wrist. "Follow us." The lead guard said and she looked at Charlotte and nodded, trying to reassure the girl that everything was okay. As soon as they came out of the cell much like last time, Clarke could see the other kids getting out as well and just as she predicted her mom came to her and Charlotte's side.

"Girls." She said as she hugged Charlotte first and then Clarke, tighter than ever. "It's happening, isn't it?" Clarke asked as she pulled back and Abby looked at her. "Yes, you are being sent to Earth today but you will be fine." She said and Clarke nodded. "Where are they taking us now?" Charlotte asked as she held onto Clarke's hand for dear life. "You will be taken to a room to change your clothes and then will be escorted to the dropship." She said and Clarke nodded this part she hadn't gone through since she had been knocked unconscious.

"We better go now. We will see you before we go, right?" Clarke said to her mom who nodded. "We will all be there to say goodbye." She said and Clarke nodded before she pulled Charlotte away and let the guards lead them both to the room her mother told them about. They were other girls there that Clarke recognized such as Harper, Monroe and Fox but Clarke quickly pulled Charlotte along to their designated cubicle and there were clothes already waiting for them. She looked at the girl. "Get changed, fast." She said readily and the girl nodded before they entered the place and started taking off their clothes and changing it.

Clarke noticed that it was the same one she wore last time and she smiled, she had always liked her outfit during their time at the dropship. She quickly got dressed. Tying her hair in her traditional style, she walked outside to wait for Charlotte who came right after she did, also wearing the same clothes as last time. Clarke extended her hand for the girl who took it without even blinking and they walked outside and were ushered away from the room. "Clarke, I'm scared." Charlotte said and Clarke squeezed her hand. "I'm right here, nothing is going to happen to you." She said and the girl nodded trusting her without a doubt.

They were directed to a line and Clarke could see that Wells and Murphy were right in front of them so she walked quickly pulling Charlotte along to get to their friends. "Hey." She said to them and the boys looked behind at them and smiled especially at Charlotte. "It's okay, braids. We're together." Murphy whispered and she nodded and the continued walking forward until they turned a corner and Clarke could see her family there including Raven and she smiled. As soon as she saw them, she let go of Charlotte's hand and went to her father's arms.

The guards tried to come forward but Kane stopped them and ushered the other three to step out of the line as well and they did. Her mother joined in the hug and she pulled back to smile at them. "I'm okay and I will be okay. I promise." She said sure of herself and they nodded. "We know, kid. We're the ones who are not okay." Her Dad said honestly and she smiled at them. "We don't have much time so I just want you to know how much I love you and you're the best parents I could have asked for and that I will be waiting down there for both of you." She said as a tear fell down on her face and they smiled.

"Your instincts will tell you to take care of everybody else first, just like your father but be careful. I can't lose you. I love you so much." Abby said to her and Clarke smiled. "Do as your mom said and take care of yourself too, kid. I love you. Here, this is for you." Her Dad said as he took off his watch and gave it to her and she smiled with tears in her eyes as she hugged them both. She went on and hugged Raven. "You get to see the Earth before I do." The mechanic said and Clarke smiled. "It will still be there waiting for you to rock with it." She said and they hugged before she moved to Kane and hugged him.

"What you asked me is in the compartment right behind of your seat." He whispered in her ear and she nodded grateful that he was able to do it. "Take care of them and bring them safely." She whispered back talking about their people and especially her family and he nodded before she pulled back and saw the rest of her friends had already said goodbye to her family and Raven, as they also greeted Kane goodbye before entering the line again and continued walking forward and one by one were escorted by the guards inside the dropship. They were all conducted to their seats so Clarke and Wells were seating together and Murphy and Charlotte were together too.

A few more were ushered in after them, and it was all new for Clarke since she had already woke up on their way down. It was all new and interesting. Soon enough, Clarke heard the door close and she held Wells' hand and looked at him who intertwined their fingers together and offered her a small smile as the countdown started and when it hit zero, they were launched. It took a couple of seconds but Clarke recognized this was the moment she had woken up in the other time so she turned to Wells and smiled at him. "How are you feeling?" she asked and he smiled. "Nervous. I mean, we used to pretend we were on Earth and now we may finally be there for real." He said and she nodded. "I'm glad you're here with me, Wells." She said and he smiled. "Me too." He said.

There was a shake in the dropship. "We hit the atmosphere." She said like last time as she already knew what was happening and what would happen in the next 5 minutes. Soon enough, Jaha's video message started. "Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. You have been given a second chance and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you but a chance for us all, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there – if the odds of your survival were better, we would have sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable." He said and just as Clarke knew it was coming…

"Your Dad's a dick, Wells." Someone said, only this time she was replied to whoever it was. "Not more than you." She said as everyone wooed her comment and Wells smiled at her as she smiled back at him. He was her friend and she would stand by him as he always did for her. "If you survive, then those crimes will be forgiven- your records wiped clean. Your drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within the mountain stocked with enough non-perishable to sustain 300 people for 2 years." It said.

Once she heard that name, Mount Weather, she got the chills to think of the horror that awaits them inside that Mountain at the hands of Cage Wallace and his goons as well as what she had done to them, it still haunted her dreams and thoughts every once in a while. Committing genocide like that took away a peace of Clarke that it took a while for her to get back on her feet, only doing with Lexa's help and all she could do now was pray that she wouldn't have to do that again She would do it if she had to but she hoped she would be spared that burden this time around.

She brought her mind back to this time and back to where she was, she pushed those worrying thoughts of their future and hers especially, aside just as she saw Finn floating around like he did before and laughter filling the crowded space. "Spacewalker bandit strikes again." Someone called it and Clarke scoffed at the stupidity of getting out of their seats in a dangerous situation like this. "More like idiot." She said loud enough for Wells to hear just as the boy stopped in front of them much like last time, being in the horizontal. "Check it out. Your Dad floated me after all." Finn said to Wells and Clarke stepped up as she noticed the other two started to get their seatbelt off.

"If you don't want to die even before we see if the Earth will kill us or not, then stay on your seat. We are about to start landing. And trust me, it will not be an easy one at that so stay where you are and hold tight before you break your necks for being stupid." She said with enough authority to get one of them to back off but the other did the opposite and started floating around and she sighed. There was nothing more she could do for him, he made his choice. She couldn't save everyone. "You're the one who beat up a guard." Finn said differently than what he said the last time since her crime had changed, thankfully.

"And you are the idiot that is going to get himself and the other idiotic guy killed. Congratulations" She said sarcastically and he smiled at her, trying to be charming. "But it's fun. I'm Finn." He said and she nodded. "I know who you are." She said just before she grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him towards her. "Wells, help me hold him." She said to her friends and the boy grabbed him as well. "What the hell are you doing?" Finn said trying to get out and she smirked. "Saving your sorry ass." She said as the drop ship started shook hard and the boy who had also been floating was thrown backwards.

"Clarke, there is something I need to tell you." Wells yelled as the shaking of the ship continued and she looked at him. "What is it?" she asked also yelling and he looked at her. "I don't know if this is the only chance I have of saying this to you." He said and she was confused. Last time, he had apologized for her father's death and they had already talked about his feelings for her so what could he have to say at this time? "What the hell is it?" she yelled and he smiled. "Jessica said yes." He said and she looked at him before she started laughing, happy for him and so did he while they continued to hold Finn down until they seemed to have hit the ground and it all stopped. Clarke finally let go of Finn and he fell down on the floor as everyone seemed to wait with baited breath what would happen next.

"Listen, no machine hum." Monty said and Clarke turned to look at him and Jasper who said. "Woah, that is a first." He looked so innocent, they both did and she smiled before she was the first to remove her seatbelt and went straight to check on the guy that was floating as everyone started to get up and about. She checked his pulse as Wells and Finn came to her side and she turned to them and shook her head. Once again, she could see Finn's I didn't mean for him to die face but truth was she didn't have the time for it or to assuage him from the guilt. She needed to find her friends.

"The outer doors are on the lower level. Let's go." She heard someone say it much like last time but she didn't mind it like she did before after all she knew the air wasn't toxic. She grabbed Wells' hand and pulled him to the ladder and got down to the second floor and started looking around when she heard her name being called. "Clarke!" She heard and she turned to see Charlotte and Murphy on the other side of the small space. The four friends ran to each other and embraced all together. "I'm so glad you guys are okay but we need to get down. They are opening the doors." Clarke said once she pulled back from the hug and they nodded and followed down behind her as she heard his voice once again.

"Hey, just back it up guys." She finally saw Bellamy again since the party where everything happened and once again he was wearing the guards gear and she wondered if Kane gave it to him but she noticed his hand moving to open the door and her mind was brought back to the moment by Wells. "Stop, the air could be toxic." He said and she had a small smile. It was the same thing she said before. Murphy smiled as well. "If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway." He said and Clarke waited for it. "Bellamy?" Everyone including the guy in question turned to the girl getting down the ladder and coming to hug him.

"God, look how big you are." He said emotional for seeing her again, Clarke was one of the few people in this place who knew just how deep the love Bellamy had for his sister went and what he was capable to do for her. "What the hell are you wearing? A guard's uniform?" she said angrily and Clarke knew why. Octavia had terrible experiences with guards. "I borrowed it to get on the dropship. Someone's got to keep an eye on you." Bellamy said smiling and Murphy whispered in her ear. "As if he could." He said smirking and she nodded. "Where is your wristband?" Murphy said as she turned to him. That was her line, he just smirked at her. "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in 6 months." She said and the whispering started.

"Nobody has a brother." Someone said. "That's Octavia Blake. The girl the found hidden under the floor." Someone else called it and Clarke thought about stepping up but decided against it. Some fights are just meant for their friends to go through and she can't interfere all the time so she let it play out the same way. Octavia moved to fight with who said that but Bellamy held her back. "Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by." He said and she looked at him. "Yeah? Like what?" she asked and he smiled.

"Like being the first person on the ground in 100 years." Murphy whispered in her ear. "It should be the first Sky person on the ground in 97 years. Idiot." He said and she smiled nodding at his joke. Much like last time, Bellamy moved to pull the lever and Murphy held one of her hands and Charlotte the other while also holding onto Wells' hand as the door slowly opened and they were greeted by the sunrays and the singing of the birds. She could feel the tears coming to her eyes as she squeezed tightly Murphy's hand as Octavia starting walking forward and jumped down from the platform onto the ground and took a deep breath and just like last time, she called it,

"WE'RE BACK, BITCHES!"


	29. The Ground part 2

The Ground part 2

Everyone started running forwards after the younger Blake said that, Clarke let go of Charlotte's hand and the little girl went running too, Wells following behind her leaving behind only Clarke and Murphy still holding hands as Clarke's tears started falling down and he let go of her hand before wrapping his arm around her. "We are really here." She said lowly to him and he nodded. "We are, blondie. We really did it." He said in awe as well and they both smiled. "Just a little longer and we will see them again." He said to her talking about their girls they loved and she nodded. "I can't wait." She said and she really couldn't.

To know that if she wanted to, she could just walk away and reach Polis and trigger Lexa and be with her was a very, extremely tempting idea, on she knew she would have to fight against every day while they were her but she had 100 kids to take care of so she quickly composed herself and dried her tears before turning to her friend. "Come with me." She said and motioned for them to go back inside the ship and he nodded as she moved to the ladder and he followed behind her as they climbed both floors until they came to where her seat was. "Kane said he left what we asked for in here. Watch the ladder for anyone coming in. I will get it out." She said and he nodded as he moved to the ladder and kept watched though he doubted anyone would even think about coming in here.

She started searching for it and soon enough, she came across the space Kane had talked about and she removed the metal plate that was loose and she saw the two bags inside the empty space. She grabbed them and put the metal plate back in place and walked to Murphy. There were the initial letters of their names attached in each one of them which is how they knew which one belonged to whom. "Let's open it." He said and she nodded as they unzipped the bags and both of them pulled out guns. They checked the clip and it was full, there were 3 more clips inside the bag and Murphy smiled. "This is what I am talking about." He said.

They put the guns in their belts and covered it with their shirts to not alert anyone that they have them, not yet. They looked inside the bag again and pulled out two knives for each of them, they attached on their belts too before Clarke pulled out from her bag, a map from where every place was. Of course, Kane was smart enough to do it in code as she explained it to him. He put in Murphy's bag a few supplies and on hers a first aid kit and a small box that she pulled out as she gave her bag to Murphy to hold it while she opened it and there it was. "He did it." She said shakily.

She pulled out from the box a necklace with the letter L and the symbol Lexa used on her forehead. She had asked him to do this for her so that she could have something to remind her of the woman she loves with her all the time. Something she could touch and grab whenever she was missing her or just needed to feel closer to her. "You're so in love, it's disgusting really." Murphy said as she secured it around her neck and put it beneath her shirt as to keep it hidden from prying eyes. Of course, someone would eventually see it but for now she would keep it this way. Her secret.

"I think we should get down and make sure Wells is not getting his ass kicked already." Murphy said and she nodded and they grabbed their bags because they would need it and started on their way down and finally walked out of the dropship and they split up as Murphy offered to go look for their friends and bring them to her. Clarke started on the same path as she did before and went to look at the Mountain, she stared at it and really hoped she could make it better this time around. She promised herself she would and she would not fail.

"Why so serious, Princess? It's not like we died on the fiery explosion." Finn said as he came to her side with his signature smirk and she looked at him and although she could see what drew her to him the first time they met, now, she only found it incredibly annoying. "Try telling that to the guy who followed you out of the seat to die and whose grave we need to start digging soon." She said as she returned her stare to the Mountain. "You don't like being called princess, do you princess?" he said and she sighed right now was really not the moment for him to be joking around her.

"I don't like knowing that that peak over there is Mount Weather and that there is a radiation soaked forest between us and our next meal, which means they dropped us in the wrong damn mountain and on top of it all, you are here annoying me. That is what I don't like." She said and turned to walk away but he followed her. "If I annoy you so much, why did you save me?" he asked her and she stopped to look at him. "Because I know Raven and she is my friend and I wouldn't want to be the one to tell her that her boyfriend died because he was being stupid. Would you?" She said and walked away from him as she saw her friends by the door of the dropship.

"What did he want?" Wells asked talking about Finn and she sighed. "Annoy me, that's all." Then she noticed the new addition to their group, Jessica. She smiled at the girl and extended her hand. "You must be Jessica, Wells' girlfriend." She said and the two of them blushed but the girl nodded shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you. Wells told me a lot about you, all of you." She said and she was very charismatic and seemed like a nice girl and Clarke was happy for her friend. "Better have been good things or you will be without a boyfriend soon enough." She said looking at him who shrugged and everyone laughed.

In the Ark, Marcus took the stage in the control room the same way he did before but with the same speech and spoke to the crowd inside the space. "We know they've landed but communications are down which means we're still blind to conditions on the ground. Thanks to Abby's wristbands, at least we know how those conditions affect the human body which is more than we had for 100 years and a great accomplishment already. So nice work, everyone." He said looking at everyone who was in the room. "Now, what are they telling us?" he asked as he got closer to Callie, Abby and Jake.

"One dead kid. Dark tile." Abby said as everyone looked at it and Kane already knew that Clarke was at least able to save the other kid who had died during the landing the last time, he only hoped she could stop the others from taking it off. "Doctor Jackson, please share our theory with Councilor Kane." She said but Kane stopped her. "It's not necessary. Rough landing was to be expected, the ships have not entered the Earth atmosphere in 100 years. It is probable that is what caused the death of the boy. Am I right?" he said and she nodded.

"The screens show the vital signs. Why are so many of them red?" Callie asked and Abby looked at Jake who smiled and hugged her. "It can only mean two things. First, injure sustained during landing." Abby said. "And the other?" Kane said already knowing the answer to that question. "They're excited to be there." Jake said as he and the others all turned to one particular screen which belonged to Clarke and everyone but Kane, who already knew what was happening and smiled, wished the theory was correct.

Back on Earth, things were going pretty much the same. Wells had offered to check the drop ship while the others waited and soon enough, he came down with news. "We got problems. The communication system is dead. I went to the roof. A dozen panels are missing, heat fried the wires." Wells said and Clarke nodded since she already knew all of this given that it was the same as last time. She pulled out her map and started scribbling on it. "All that matters now is finding food and Mount Weather is our best chance. See? Look, this is us and this is where we need to go if we want to survive to see the next few days." She said as she drew on the map.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" Charlotte asked her this time and Clarke smiled at her before answering. "My Dad. He loved to show me how to read maps and all of that stuff. Never knew why it mattered but thank God he did." She said and suddenly they were interrupted. "Good, a map. Think they have a bar on this town? I'll buy you a beer." Jasper said as he and Monty got close. Wells didn't do anything to them this time around. "I'm sorry, we don't drink. Minors and all." Clarke said and they smiled as a little group came their way lead by John Mbege. Clarke could hear Murphy whisper, "Of course he steals my thunder," She smiles slightly before she sees them move towards Wells.

"Are these people bothering you guys?" he said to the boys, Monty and Jasper, who didn't even know what to say to him or if they should say something at all and Wells raised his hands. "Relax, we're just trying to figure out where we are." Wells said and Clarke shared a look with Murphy as she prepared for her first collision with Bellamy and everyone else. She steeled herself as he did not disappoint her and his voice came clear as the day. "We are on the ground. That not good enough for you?" Bellamy said and just as Wells was stepping forward. Clarke took the front. "Are you going to eat the dirt? Or are we not supposed to try and find food?" she said and everyone wooed her answer.

"We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority." Even Clarke knew that was the worst approach for the situation, everyone here hated Jaha. "Screw your father. What? You think you're in charge here? You and your little group?" Octavia said and Clarke stepped forward, noticing the Blake's recognizing her. "Jaha is not the problem, the lack of food is. I don't care about your feelings for the Chancellor but I'm sure everyone here would like to eat something and Mount Weather is where the food is. It's a 20 mile track, if we leave now, we can get there before dark." She said and waited for Bellamy's line and he didn't disappoint once again.

"I got a better idea. You go and find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change." He said and everyone cheered and Clarke smirked. "I don't know in what universe you think we can carry food for everyone but then again, you must have hit your head pretty hard on the fall to say something stupid like that." Clarke said before she turned around with the cheers and Mbege went to her just as Finn jumped from the ceiling. "You should take a few steps back." He said to the guy and Clarke looked at him. "I don't need a savior. I can take care of idiots like him myself. Thank you very much." She said as she bumped her shoulder on Finn's and Mbege's as everyone cheered on her.

"Hey, spacewalker. You can rescue me next, I promise I will like it." Octavia said as Finn smirked and Clarke sighed as she came to her friends. "Look, we can't all go. I don't trust these people so you guys stay here, okay?" She said to Murphy and Charlotte who nodded. "Wells, I need you to stay and see what you can do about the systems, you have been working with Raven a couple of times, I am sure that there is something you can do about it, maybe try and fix the radio. They need to know they can come down." She said to him and he nodded his head. "What about you? Are you going alone?" he asked just as Finn came to her side.

"So when do we leave?" He asked and she sighed. "Now." She said to him and Wells looked at them. "How are you two going to carry food for 100 people?" he asked and as Clarke expected, Finn turned and grabbed Jasper and Monty. "Four of us, can we go now?" he said and Octavia came jogging to them. "Sounds like a party. Make it five." She said and Bellamy held her arm. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?" he asked and she shrugged him off. "Going for a walk." She said and Clarke kept it quiet about Finn's wristband as she noticed he had tried to take it off. No reason to spook Bellamy in that direction.

He had pulled his sister away earlier like he did last time and they talked about something and it seemed tense and Clarke could only hope that he hadn't done anything stupid again. Kane said that he had approached him so there had been no reason for him to even think about shooting Jaha but then again, this Bellamy is not very good at the think before you act department so she was worried until she could talk to Kane, she wouldn't know what was the deal with him. She hoped she was wrong but something inside her told her she wasn't. She decided to ignore it.

"Okay, then. Murphy." She turned to her friend and he nodded already understanding her message before she hugged Charlotte then Wells and even Jessica. "Let's go." She said to the little group and started walking but just before she could leave she heard Wells. "Hey what were you doing?" She turned around and saw him grab Finn's bracelet. "You can't take this off or the Ark is going to think we are dead. Keep it on or they won't know it's safe to come down." He said and both Clarke and Murphy looked at each other before looking at Bellamy and seeing his look. She didn't like it at all. Murphy looked at her and mouthed. "I got this."

She nodded at him and called out to the others who quickly started following behind her. Octavia said goodbye to Bellamy and Clarke clutched her bag, her mind running wild at what would happen to the wristbands and if Murphy could keep Bellamy in check until she got back and the same way as before Octavia came to her side and spoke to her. "Thank you for what you did for me at the party but before you get any ideas, Finn is mine." She said and Clarke smirked. "You're welcome and before you get any idea, Finn has a girlfriend that just happens to be my best friend so stay away from him." She said to the girl shocking her and marched forward leaving the other girl a little behind.

Meanwhile back in the Ark, Abby and Jake were in the control room watching the monitors. "What do you think is going on down there? Do you think they are okay?" Jake asked and Abby squeezed his hand. "We have to believe they are." She looked at him and he rested their foreheads together before Callie came and joined them. "Hey, guys. How is Clarke?" she asked and Abby smiled pointing at the screen. "Her vital signs are strong. Blood sugar is low though, she hasn't eaten." She said just as the interphone rang and she picked it up. "This is Doctor Griffin." She said as they looked at her. Her face changed quickly.

"I'm on my way." She said, put the phone down and started on her way out of the room. "Jackson, put it down there. We need blood, A neg and a lot of it then get yourself to the OR." She said as Jackson ran out of the room, she was about to follow him when Jake called after her. "Abby, what is wrong?" Jake asked as he and Callie looked at her for information on what could possibly be going on and Kane felt his arm hair stand up, he prayed it wasn't what he was thinking but then Abby turned and said the words he thought he wouldn't hear it again.

"The Chancellor's been shot."


	30. The Ground part 3

The Ground part 3

The little group were once again walking through the forest, only this time Clarke wasn't as uptight as she was last time they did this so she was walking along side with Monty and Jasper instead of many steps ahead. So she saw when Finn plucked the flower and put it in Octavia's head and she sighed. He didn't remember about Raven at all, did he? It wasn't only with her, she thought and sighed. "Now, that my friend is game." Jasper said as Clarke walked ahead of him and Monty sighed. "That, my friend, is poison sumac." He said and Octavia squealed.

"What? It is?" she said getting it off of her hair and Clarke smiled at her as Finn stopped and she ended up passing him, wanting to leave them to their conversation, not really feeling the need to participate in it, not now, at least. "The flowers aren't poisonous. They're medicinal. Calming, actually." Monty said as he bit down the flower. "His family grows all the pharmaceuticals in the Ark," Jasper said and Finn called out to the blonde who was a little ahead of them but was silent during the conversation. "Hey, Clarke. How do you block all of this out?" he said and she turned to them. "I don't. I am just very good at multitasking." She said sarcastically and the boys smiled.

"Someone should slip her some poison sumac." Octavia said and she heard it but decided to ignore, immature Octavia would be a pain in the ass but she could handle much more than that so it would not be a problem. "I've got to know what you two did to get busted?" Finn asked the boys. "Poison sumac isn't the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean." Monty said. "Someone forgot to replace what we took." Jasper said and Monty replied. "Someone already apologized like a thousand times." Clarke smiled, only those two would get arrested for getting high and now Jasper was about to screw up.

"What about you, Octavia? What they got you for?" he asked innocently and Clarke shook her head, he really needed to think before speaking, it could be useful down here. "Being born." She said as Clarke stopped and got down on the ground and listened to their steps, they really made a lot of noise. "That was so not game." Monty said as the boys kept slapping each other and came to where the girls were. Clarke just kept staring at the deer. This was the beginning of the discovery of the many mysteries Earth had reserved for them so she let this play out the same way as before.

"No animals, huh?" Finn said in her ear and she sighed. He looked at her and she turned to him and shook her head at him. He continued smirking before she turned back to looking up ahead and he started to move forward until he stepped on a branch that broke, and the deer looked up at them. Everyone but her got startled about his two heads as it started running away and they looked at each other and all Clarke could think was that if this was scary to them, they had no idea what they would have to face soon enough. "Come on, let's keep going." She said and moved forward as the others turned to follow her in silent, their minds still racing with what they saw.

Back in the Ark, Abby was in surgery along with Jackson. "Chancellor's lost a lot of blood. If only they've found him sooner." As soon as she said that, he started shaking and opened his eyes. "Abby, he is waking up." Jackson said and Abby nodded. "Increase anesthesia." She said to him and Jackson and the other nurse that was with them looked at each other in worry, this could be bad, they both thought. "We used way too much anesthesia and blood. We're way over the line." He warned and she looked at the nurse.

"Your Chancellor is going into shock." She said looking at the woman expecting her to do what she asked. "You're asking me to break the law." Jackson said and Abby pulled back from the operating table. "Fine, I will do it myself. Let them come after me." She said and increased the anesthesia and then went back into the surgery. Meanwhile, Kane left the room, not long after Abby left. He couldn't understand what had happened. Clarke had warned this was what happened last time so he approached Bellamy and offered him a place without the need for this so why did he do it? There must be an explanation for his actions.

What did Shumway said to him to convince him to do as the Lieutenant asked instead of trusting Kane to help him? He didn't know but speaking of the devil, the man appeared in front of him. He almost wanted to arrest Shumway right here and right now but he had no proof of his part in the shooting of Thelonious so how would he explain the guard's arrest? For now, Kane had no choice but to play nice with the guy though he knew the man would get caught eventually and when he did, he will be the first one there to watch him fall. "Excuse me sir, you asked to be notified if there were news. The chancellor is still in surgery but we have ID the shooter. Bellamy Blake is the only person on the Ark unaccounted for." He said showing Bellamy's picture.

"Why would he do something like this? What would he gain from that?" Kane asked the man, pretending as he looked at it and sighed. "I don't know, sir. He is a no one. A janitor, we're still working up on a profile but his motives to go to Earth are very clear. "His sister. I remember, her mother kept her hidden for 16 years, nearly a record." He said and looked at the man. "What is it, Commander Shumway? Spit it out." He said though he already knew what the man was going to say but this time, he would have a lovely surprise. "We could start now. As Chancellor pro temporary, you could give the order to start reducing the population." He said and Kane shook his head.

"No, I won't Lieutenant and for two reasons. One, there is no need for that measure, I have faith in those kids that they will make contact and we will be able to get everyone down to Earth. And two…" he said as he looked at the man. "I'm not Chancellor pro temporary. Jake Griffin is." He said to the guy and could see he was shocked by the news and Kane couldn't believe he let himself be manipulated by this guy to push for the genocide of their own people. He really had been blind to what had been right in front of him. He wasn't anymore.

"If he is a janitor, he must have had help to do it which means the 100 have an assassin in their midst and we have a traitor in ours. I will not rest until I find whoever it is that have tried to kill our Chancellor and when I get them, it will be a pleasure to make sure that they will pay for it." He said looking at the man in the eyes before giving the tablet back to the guard and walking away. All he could think was that Bellamy really did it. He did shoot Thelonious which means he will want to take the wristbands off much like he did last time and Clarke would need to stop that, he just hoped she could.

Back in the camp, Wells and Murphy were gathering woods while the girls collected the parachutes since Murphy gave them the idea to use it for tents given the fact there was no way they could all sleep inside the dropship. "Did you find water?" Murphy asked Wells but he shook his head. "No, I don't think there is anything nearby. We would have to venture into the forest to try and find it but I don't know if it is a good idea to leave camp." He said as Murphy nodded. "I know. Maybe Clarke and the others will have a better chance at it than us." Murphy said as he dropped his load of wood and Wells did the same to his just as Mbege and Connor came to them.

"Found anything?" the intruders asked the boys pointing at the side and the two friends looked at the side of the ship and there it was, the same phrase as last time. 'First Son, First to Dye'. It wasn't a surprise for Murphy since it was Mbege's idea to do it in the first place, all he did was write and wrong much like it was now. "No, but feel free to go looking for something maybe in the woods. Who knows? Maybe we can get lucky and you don't return." Murphy said smirking as he knew he could take them even without the guns on his belt. "You spelled die wrong, geniuses." Wells said and Murphy pushed him to walk past them.

But as he did that, they passed Bellamy and he saw the older guy approach Tweddle Dumb and Tweddle Stupid much like he did the last time with Mbege and himself and he slowed down, though Wells continued in the direction of where the girls were. Murphy stayed hidden behind a part of the dropship to listen on the conversation. "You're not a member of the guard, are you?" Mbege asked. "No, the real Guard will be here soon unless we stop it. You don't actually think they are going to forgive your crimes? Even if they do, then what? Guys like us will become model citizens now? Get jobs? If we're lucky, maybe pick up their trash." Bellamy said.

"You got a point?" Connor asked impatiently. "No, I got a question. They locked you up, dumped you down here like lab rats to die so why are you helping them?" he asked them. "The hell we are." Mbege said angrily. "You wearing those bracelets, aren't you? Right now, those things are telling them whether or not is safe to follow us down here." He said and Murphy had enough, he knew exactly what Bellamy was going to suggest so he quickly left to find his friends and start thinking on a plan to stop the older guy.

Since Bellamy figured it out why the bracelets are there, thanks for that one Junior, and he wants them off using that same speech, it can only mean that he shot Jaha again and Kane couldn't stop it from happening which means that Bellamy will be coming for Wells' bracelet tonight. Oh no, not this time. Wells was family and he would protect him until Clarke came back and put Bellamy in his place. He found them all laughing and joking, just enjoying being alive and on Earth and unaware about the danger lurking a few feet away from them. He couldn't leave their side after what he heard. No one was losing the wristbands, not on his watch.

Meanwhile in the Ark, Abby finally returned to the control room and she went straight to her husband who was talking to Callie about the kids. "Hey." She said and they turned to her. "Hey, how is he doing?" Jake asked as he hugged her to his side and kissed the top of her head as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in before letting it out. "Ask me again if he makes it through the night." She said as she turned to face the screen. "Who else did we lose?" she asked. "Mbege and Connor." A man said as Kane joined them as they all watched the tiles. "None injured during landing." He said as he hugged Callie.

"I concur something else killed these two. They were fine one second and the next, bang." The guy said. "Then it isn't radiation." Abby said and the other four looked at her as the other guy kept quiet and went back to work. "Radiation wouldn't work like that unless there were a lot of with but if that was the case, then they would all be dead right now. Maybe they ate something poisonous." Jake said and Callie nodded. "We shouldn't think the worst. Give them a chance." She said and Kane smiled at her. "Let's hope we're right." Abby said as she looked at Clarke's screen with her heart clenching inside her chest.

Back in the forest, the little group continued on their journey through the woods, Octavia on the lead with Finn behind her, Jasper and Monty right behind him and Clarke in the back, exactly like last time. "You know what I would like to know? Why send us down today after 97 years? What changed?" Finn asked. "Who cares? I am just glad they did. I woke up rotting in a cell and now I'm spinning in the forest." Octavia said as she spun on a tree and smirked at Finn. "Maybe they found something in the satellites. You know, like an old weather satellite." Monty said and that was her cue.

"It wasn't a satellite. The ark is dying." She said as they stopped to look at her and she walked past them. "With the current population level, there is roughly 3 months left of life support, maybe four now that we are gone." She said and Finn came to her side. "How do you know that?" he asked differently than last time and she was glad that the reason for that was because her Dad was still alive and she wasn't imprisoned for treason. "My father is the engineer who discovered the flaw. The council decided to keep it quiet to try and find a solution without worrying the people but there was nothing to be done. He recruited Raven to help but she doesn't know exactly what is happening either." She said reminding him of the girl. She would not let him hurt Raven the way he did before.

"That is why today. That is why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they brought themselves some time." She said firmly. "They are going to kill more people, aren't they?" Monty asked. "Good, after what they did to me, I say float them all." Octavia said and Clarke shook her head at her childishness but this was not a fight for now and not with this Blake so Clarke let her go even because she knew what was right ahead of them. "You don't mean that." Jasper said as he followed her. Clarke, Monty and Finn behind them.

"We have to warn them." Finn said and she shook her head. "We don't have a way to do that yet but we will, my friends are already working on trying to salvage anything they can from the dropship to make contact with the Ark but I don't know if they can do anything. For now, those bracelets are the only communication with our people that we have." She said and looked at him and the way he stared at her reminded her too much of his longing looks so she quickly turned away and stumbled into Jasper's back. "Damn. I love Earth." He said dreamily as they all turned to see Octavia in underwear, Clarke smiled. Have fun, she thought sarcastically. "Octavia, what the hell are you doing?" she said laughing as the girl jumped into the water.

Jasper and Monty quickly started running towards her scared and worried as did Finn while Clarke calmly walked there knowing that the trouble was yet to come. "Octavia, we can't swim." Monty said and the girl smirked. "No but we can stand." She stood up with the water only reaching her waist and hips and they all smiled. "There was not supposed to be a river here." Clarke said smiling. "Well, there is so take off your damn clothes." Finn said and she laughed as Jasper quickly took some of his off before he noticed the movement in the river. "Octavia, get out of the water." He said just as the younger Blake turned around and got grabbed by the snake and tossed around the river. Clarke looked at the scene and sighed before thinking,

'Here we go again.'


	31. The Ground part 4

A/N: I do not claim any rights to the dialogues or scenes written here that were taken from the scripts or from the episodes, that work belongs to the CW, Jason Rothenberg, Kass Morgan and the 100 writers only. I am simply using it for fun with no intents of plagiarizing it. Words in italic is being spoken in Trigedasleng.

* * *

They were looking at the water searching for the girl when she suddenly appeared in the other side, screaming, flailing her arms around and they all rushed there. "What the hell is that?" Monty asked as Finn took off his jacket. "What are you going to do?" Jasper asked him. "Try not to get eaten." He was about to jump in but she stopped, this was Jasper's moment so she would help him again and stop Finn as the monster still had Octavia trapped in between its teeth. "No, wait. If we distract it, it might let her go. Help me." She said kneeling down as Finn and Monty helped her drop a big rock in the river.

"It worked." Finn said as they saw the river snake thing let Octavia go and moved towards where the movement of the rock falling in the water had been, only problem was that the thing had taken Octavia to a deeper part of the river and she was drowning, not knowing how to swim. "Octavia, get to the shore now." Jasper yelled as he moved towards her and jumped in the water which drew the attention of the thing right back to where they were. "It's coming back. It's headed right for you guys." Monty said as they watched the thing move in the river and Finn went to help the other two get out before it got to them. Luckily, Jasper was able to get Octavia and himself out just as the river snake passed by them.

The other three got to them and Clarke quickly moved to check the wound, though she knew it wasn't bad, it hadn't been last time either, it was a small bite and it wouldn't hurt her for too long, it would heal quite nicely and relatively fast so she wasn't as worried no as she was before. She still ripped a piece of Jasper's shirt and wrapped around the girl's leg to stop the bleeding and to protect the wound as Octavia hugged the boy. "Thank you." She repeated a few times. "You're going to be okay." Clarke said as she finished tying it up. "Note to self: next time, save the girl." Monty said as everyone laughed at what he said and helped Octavia up. Clarke was to the to help her putting her clothes back on before they continued on their way.

Back in the camp, after what Murphy heard earlier on from the conversation Bellamy had with dumb and dumber, he insisted they all went inside the dropship and stayed there, talking and cutting the parachutes and the others agreed. He wanted to make sure that he would have all of them in his line of sight and close enough for him to be able to keep them safe, especially Wells since his wristband would be Bellamy's priority once again and as he remembered how they got it, Murphy was ashamed for what he did and what he let himself be talked into doing. He was sure Wells would forgive him if he knew but still left a bitter taste in his mouth even more so now that he knows the guy and considers him a really close friend.

The girls had no problem in staying inside just talking, Charlotte wanting to know exactly how Wells asked Jessica to be his girlfriend and all of that and the girl more than willing to share the story with the other two, completely embarrassing her boyfriend who was teased nonstop. So because of that, it was already dark when the little group of friends finally walked out of the ship as they started to hear loud noises and Murphy already knew what was happening but the other three didn't. Wells was holding his girlfriend's hand and Murphy had one arm around Charlotte. "Wells, what is happening?" she asked him and the boy shook his head. "I don't know but I am going to find out." Wells said as he let go of Jessica's hand and went towards the bonfire. Murphy reached behind him to feel the guns and followed his friends.

There was cheering going on and people were around a fire, all in their feet watching what the other three with him didn't know but was a spectacle of wristband removal, courtesy of the so called leader Bellamy was trying to be again. As they all came closer to it, they were able to see the many bracelets by the fire already gone from their owner's arms. Murphy had an idea on how pissed off Clarke would be when she came back and found out about this madness. He knew first hand that it would not be pretty for anyone involved but for now, in her stead, it fell to him the responsibility to stop this as best as he could but Wells, much like last time, stepped forward, Bella trying to go after him.

"Who's next?" Bellamy yelled to the other kids and they cheered him like he was a God and Murphy could only see an asshole, much like he was which was not saying much. Bellamy had a lot to learn, lessons Murphy tries every day to keep up and has not been failing so miserably, at least not until now and he didn't want to start today so he grabbed Jessica's arm and pulled her backwards and looked at Charlotte giving her a look she understood as she pulled the girl closer to her as he crossed his arms, he would interfere when the time was right. "What the hell are you doing?" Wells asked as everyone looked at him. Mbege moved towards him and Murphy was ready to step in but Bellamy stopped him.

"We're liberating ourselves. What does it look like?" he asked with a smirk on his face. "It looks like you're trying to get ourselves killed. The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we've got. Take them off and the Ark is going to think we are dying, that is not safe to follow." Wells said explaining the situation. "That's the point, Chancellor. We can take care of ourselves, can't we?" Bellamy said to the crowd and everyone agreed and cheered with what he said. "You think this is a game? Those aren't just our friends and our parents up there. They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers. I don't care what he tells you, we won't survive here on our own and besides if it really it's safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?" Wells said softly yet firmly and Murphy waited.

"My people are already down. Those people locked my people up. Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that." He said as he got closer to Wells, Murphy already bursting with need to step in but still waiting for the right moment to do it. The conversation continued on. "My father didn't write the laws." Wells said to the guy. "No, he enforced them but not anymore. Not here. Here, there are no laws. Here, we do whatever the hell we want whenever the hell we want. You don't have to like it, Wells. You can even try to stop it, to change it. Kill me. You know why? Whatever the hell we want." Bellamy said and this was Murphy's cue.

"Really?" he asked before the chant of that phrase could begin as he approached the two of them and Bellamy smirked. "Whatever the hell we want." He said as Murphy came to stand in front of him, between him and Wells and everyone cheered on Bellamy. Murphy looked at them before turning back to face Bellamy, straight on. "Okay." He simply said and then threw a hard punch at Bellamy who stumbled back with a split lip. "You can do whatever the hell you want but only after the Ark comes down, anyone who takes the wristband off will get much worse than that." He said loud enough for everyone to hear and Bellamy turned to him.

"Oh really? And how are you going to do that?" he said coming towards him and Murphy looked at him, "You said I could kill you, right? Since you are so hell bent in making the ark think we are dead, might as well make it true," He said and lifted up his shirt letting everyone see one of his guns. Bellamy looked at him and Murphy only smirked at the guy. "You see, I have no problem with your philosophy but it does not, it will not apply to this situation. The Ark will be coming down whether you like it or not, Blake. That is a promise." Murphy said dangerously to the guy as everyone paid attention to the two boys facing off

"No one here wants any trouble, I know I don't. I'm a very nice guy. And we will not have a problem if we all cooperate and work together to survive in here until the rest of our people joins us." He said looking around. "However," He said slower, "anyone who takes their wristband off, will have wished that they have never been so stupid." He said in a very scary tone as he looked at everyone, who looked pretty scared of him and he turned to Bellamy as it started to rain. "Whatever the hell we want, right?" he said opening his arms before turning around and escorting his friends back to the dropship as everyone watched them walk away.

"That was scary, Jay." Charlotte said to him once they were away from the crowd and he nodded. "I know. It was supposed to be scary." He said as he hugged her. "What the hell was that, Murphy? Where did you get that gun?" Wells asked him as he ushered them inside and to the upper level. He hadn't planned to show his gun so soon but it was need for the sole purpose of letting Bellamy know that there was not only one person with fire weapon but two, or three, counting with Clarke's own guns and knives. He knew that his intention was met and the guy would either rush out and try to get to him and his weapon or would stand back, not knowing if Murphy meant what he said or not. It could go either way and he was prepared to face whatever course of action Bellamy chose to take.

"That, Junior, was the right thing to do. We need the Ark down here, Wells, like you said, we won't last long here without them and they will not last long up there without us and this planet so it will all work out in our favor, trust me. Besides, I don't think Blondie was going to like what Bellboy was trying to do here, do you?" he asked and Wells nodded knowing the answer.

"And the gun was given by Kane to help protect us should we face any danger in here, from the planet or from the criminals we are living with. It's quite handy, don't you think?" He said and Wells nodded again agreeing that it would help keep them safe. "You guys go to sleep." Murphy said as they settled down. "What about you?" Bella asked as she cuddled into Wells' side and Charlotte lay down beside him.

"Someone needs to keep watch over all of you. I don't trust those guys to not try anything while we are sleeping, besides it's not the first time I have spent the night without sleeping so I will be fine, Don't worry about me and just go to sleep. Earth and a bunch of young stupid teenagers are waiting for us tomorrow." He said to them and they nodded, following his instructions and closing their eyes while Murphy kept the ladder in his line of vision.

He locked it from their side, just in case. He really hoped Clarke would come back and deal with Bellamy and the wristbands thing once and for all. He grabbed his knife and one of his guns, keeping it away from Charlotte and relaxed against the metal and that was how he spent the night. He was so ready for this to be over.

In the Ark, Abby and Jake were looking at the screens once again, it was all they did now, neither being able to take their eyes off of it willingly afraid that at any minute, the tile of one of their kids will go red, especially Clarke's. "Ten more. One after the next." She said after a while in silence. "Hey, we can't give up, okay? Not yet." Jake said and she nodded.

"Abby, look at the plasma osmolality. Numbers are going over the board." Jackson said calling to her and she smiled at the news so Jake turned to her. "What does that mean?" he asked her and she looked at him. "It means that they found water." She said and he smiled too, that was a very good sign for the kids and for them as well. Suddenly, the door opened and Shumway with a few guards came inside and went straight to Abby.

"Councilor Abigail Griffin, you're under arrest for exceeding the maximum medical supplies allowed per patient." He said in a formal tone but Jake stood in front of her and in between them. "As interim Chancellor, I believe that is my decision to make and not yours Commander. And I was the one that allowed the use of whatever medical supplies were needed to save my friend and your Chancellor's life so retreat. Immediately." He said firmly as Kane came to stand by his side. "You heard your Chancellor, Commander. Do as he says. Or would you want to be taken in for insubordination?" He said and the Commander looked at him and at Jake.

"But sir…" he said to Kane, thinking he was on the same side, a mistake of course. Jake stepped forward. "Are you going to disobey my order, Commander?" he asked and the man shook his head. "No, sir." He said. "Then, leave. We have more important matters to discuss than this." He said dismissively and the guard turned around and left followed by the others. "I had to do it, Jake. He would have died if I hadn't." Abby said to her husband and he hugged her tightly. "I know. I am glad you did and I will not let anyone float you because of that." He said and she nodded. "Very good decision, Chancellor." Kane said and he smiled at the man before he let the couple have their moment and went back to work.

Back on the Earth, Clarke woke up from her sleep once again. After the experience with the river, they had stayed clear of anything that they didn't know about, like rivers and caves and what not and just kept walking and talking about silly things until it started getting dark and they decided to stop in the exact same place as last time and they fell asleep once again. When Clarke opened her eyes after a few hours, she was met with the beautiful view of the glowing forest where they were camped for the night but seeing that only made the necklace she was wearing weight a lot more in her heart. She grabbed it and started to look at it and thought about what Lexa could be doing now.

If she was sleeping or not, if she was alone in her room or not, though she couldn't and wouldn't allow herself to even think that far or else, she might just say to hell with it all and go searching for the girl who owns her heart. These feelings came as a surprise given the fact that she was never possessive about the people she dated before but she didn't even want to think about Lexa with someone who wasn't her. Hypocritical of her, she knew. Especially since she slept with Niylah before and after Lexa died but that was a giant screw up on her part that she would never do it again and truth is she never really deserved the brunette and her love anyway. So she clenched the necklace, stood up and went to where the glowing plants were.

She was so concentrated in her thoughts of Lexa that she didn't remember that Finn was coming to talk to her, that was until she heard his footsteps. She quickly hid the necklace back inside her shirt as he came to her side with the same look of awe on his face. "Pretty cool, huh?" he said to her and she looked at him and what was in his hands, a leaf with water inside it. "You went to the river?" she asked him and he smirked. "Figured it was worth it losing a finger or two. Here." He said offering to her and she shook her head and drank it once since she was really thirsty though she left for the others as well.

"Do you think this means we're all going to grow two heads?" he said trying to joke and she shook her head, this little charm of his would not work on her again. "You're even more of an idiot than Raven described you to be." She said reminding him of the mechanic and it did the trick, his smirk was gone. "How do you know her?" he asked curiously and she smiled. "I went to visit my Dad at work, she was there, we met, talked and were friends the next day." She said and he nodded. "She is a great girl, Finn. Don't hurt her or you will need to worry about more than just man-eating snakes." She said and turned around going back to her spot.

She could hear him when he went to his spot as well and she sighed before she relaxed and fell asleep, soundly this time dreaming about a certain green eyed beauty, it was a very good dream. The next day, they were woken up by the birds singing which put a smile on their faces, all of them except Clarke and soon enough they continued on their way, Clarke dreading what was going to happen next every step of the way but forcing a small smile and a laugh here and there. She really hated that she couldn't change this but Becca explained the indescribable dangers of changing the time markers and she wouldn't risk it. She promised herself she would make up to Jasper as soon as they rescued him.

Within no time at all, really it seemed for Clarke that they got there much faster than last time, they came to the river that Clarke knew was the boundary for the Trikru land and the Mountain Men territory and she knew that there was already someone there watching over them to see what they would do and she had to stop herself for looking out, trying to find whoever it was. Much like last time, Finn discovered the long vine and started preparing it and she knew she needed to steal herself and do her part right. "You wanted to go first. Now, quit stalling. Mount Weather awaits." She said those words though she deeply wished she hadn't.

"Just hang on till the apogee and you'll be fine." Jasper said and Finn turned to him playing innocent. "The apogee? Like the Indians, right?" he asked curiously and Jasper looked at him seriously. "Apogee, not apache." He said and Clarke did her part as she watched Finn smirk at the young guy. "He knows. Today, Finn." She said without the excitement of the last time they did this. "Aye, aye captain." He said and saluted. "See you on the other side." He said to Jasper and was preparing to jump but just like last time, Clarke watched Jasper stop him.

"Wait." He said to the long haired guy as he stole a look at Octavia. "What?" Finn asked him, noticing his line of sight. "Let me." he said and Finn looked at the girl and smiled. "I can do it." Jasper said and Finn gave him the vine. "I knew there was a badass in there somewhere." He said and Jasper got ready. "Hey, it's okay to be afraid, Jasper. The trick is not fighting it." Finn said noticing his hesitance to do it. Jasper got the courage he needed. "See you on the other side." He said and swung back and forth a few time screaming, just before he fell on the rock on the other side of the river. They ran to get a better view of him.

He got up from the ground and yelled. "WE ARE APOGEE." The others joined in cheering for him and sharing his joy but not Clarke, she was waiting for the fun to transform in despair the moment he grabbed that sign. Finn turned to look at her. "Let's go princess. Maybe this will make you smile." He said to her and she grabbed the vine and forced a smile. "Come on, Clarke. You got this. Apogee." Jasper yelled and she looked at Finn, just as she noticed Jasper finding the plate. "We did it. Mount weather." He yelled holding it up and Clarke could feel her heart racing and then, swift like the wind, there it was. The spear hit him square on the chest.

It was a shock to everyone, to Clarke as well even though she was already expecting it to happen. No one dared to move for a couple of seconds but then, they were brought back by the yell. "Jasper." Octavia screamed at him and so did the others before Clarke started pulling them back and Finn helped her as they hid behind the rocks, the others looking scared and shocked while Clarke now only had a grim look on her face and she said the only thing she could say at the moment. The only thing that made sense back then and also now.

"We are not alone."


	32. Listening to advice is good

Listening to advice is good

They ran. All they could do in that moment was run, Clarke being the first one to direct them towards the forest and away from there with Finn backing her up and getting the others to go. They ran and ran and ran, this time Clarke didn't stop to look back once, she kept running, not out of fear but because it was what she needed to do now for her friends and to keep things on the right track. She knew that they would not be attacked again but she didn't want to give any chance of that happening so she kept them running.

They ran until Monty tripped and fell down once again, Finn and Octavia went to help them as he looked at the bones in front of him and so did the others though Clarke knew what they were now. These were traces of the Pauna which is why there were human skeletons alongside with the monkey face. It was not because the grounders were animals mixed with humans like they thought last time, savages but because the humans had been eaten by the giant mutant gorillas that roamed these woods and left the rest of their meal behind.

"Who are they?" Finn asked as she picked the head of the thing up to look, it was different than the one she and Lexa met the last time. This one was much smaller than what she remembered from her experience so maybe it wasn't a full grown gorilla's head. "What are they?" Monty said it this time as she stayed quiet in her thoughts. "We are so screwed." Octavia said out loud and at that moment, they heard Jasper's screams. "Jasper. He is alive." Clarke said and like last time she took off in the direction where they came from. "Clarke." Finn said as they all ran after her. "Wait." He said to her as they ran back towards the river.

"Wait, stay behind the trees." Once they got there, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down as they looked where Jasper had been and wasn't there anymore. "He was right there." Finn said as they all looked at the spot. "Where is he?" Monty asked them and she answered like last time. "They took him." She said firmly and they looked at her expectantly and as she looked back at them, she realized she would always end up as their leader and she might as well embrace it. "What now?" Octavia asked. "We go back to camp and we think of a way to get him back." She said standing up and they took off running from there as they followed her.

Meanwhile, back in the Ark, Abby and Jake had been in their quarters before they had been called to the control room, quickly leaving their place, both afraid they were going to hear bad news so as they entered the room, they went straight to Jackson who was there. "Talk to me, Jackson." Abby said. "Rumors are spreading. Witness saw a dropship launch, it is only a matter of time before the people figure it out that we sent the 100 to the ground." he said. "Let the council worry about the people, Sinclair and I have been trying to reestablish communication with those kids by reverse engineering the wristbands Abby created." Jake said to the doctor and Abby nodded at her husband. "How many dark tiles?" she asked him.

"15 in total. We had been losing one after the other but then, it just stopped. However, their vital signs spiked for a longer duration before flat lined. It could be a pain response. Abby, this is what we would be expecting if they were exposed to radiation." Jackson said to her and Abby shook her head. "I know what it looks like Jackson, but there has to be another explanation, we just haven't found it yet." She said and Jake held her hand. "You will." He said to her and she smiled at him before they both looked at Clarke's screen to see it red just as Sinclair announced. "Chancellor on deck." They all turned around and saw Jaha coming in followed by Kane.

"I saw him on his way here and tried to stop him but he is too stubborn to listen to reason, maybe you can convince him." Marcus said to the Griffins and Abby looked at the man in question. "I spent twelve hours putting those intestines back, you know?" she said to him and he smiled at her. "Thank you for that." He said to her and she shook her head. "Good to see you well, my friend." Jake said and gave his friend a careful hug. "It's is good to see you too." He said and Jake nodded as Thelonious moved to look at the screen and saw that Wells was fine and he sighed in relief but then he looked at the other screens and the dark ones.

"We've sent them down to die." He said out loud and Abby shook her head coming to stand right in front of him. "No, we sent them down to live, to see of the Earth was survivable so that we could all go down." She said strongly trying to convince him and Kane stepped in. "Abby is right, sir. We can still have faith that they will be fine and that we can save our people. They just need a little bit more of time and so do we." Kane said to the man. "Thelonious, listen to me. You have to trust us, the wristbands signs of the dark tiles are still a question for now but they could be just fine and that means the Earth is survivable. Give us a little more time, my friend." Jake said as Jaha looked at them and at the screens.

Back in the 100 camp, the night went on without much happening. Murphy fell asleep a while but since he had closed the door leading to where they were, no one came inside which means no one kidnapped Wells and took his wrist band off. Good. He then woke up to find the guy cuddling with Jessica and he smiled, he was finally over Clarke, it would be good for him. Then, he looked at Charlotte who was sleeping peacefully. Thankfully having friends and Clarke as her roommate in the Sky Box helped her, she was free from the nightmares she had the last time and he was thankful for that and that nothing of the mess involving him, Wells and Charlotte would happen again.

"Hey, guys. It's time to wake up." He said to them trying to wake up the sleepyheads. "Five more minutes, Clarke." Charlotte said still asleep and he chuckled. "I'm not blondie, braids." He said to her and shook her up again as Wells and Jessica started to sit up and watched the scene. "Some help here would be nice." Murphy said to the other two and Jessica smiled before she moved to the younger girl. "Charlotte, it's morning on Earth, you don't want to miss it, do you?" she said softly and the little girl's eyes shot open and she sat up immediately. "I'm up." she said and Murphy face palmed. "Girls. Never understood them and never will." He said to himself and Wells nodded agreeing.

"Come on, there is a lot to do besides enjoying our second day on Earth. We still have to bury the body of the guy who died during landing. He deserves it." Wells said to the group and Murphy nodded. He then grabbed his bag and opened the hatch and went down first, the other following him. They came out of the dropship to see everyone scattered around. "Look, there it is." Charlotte called out to them, being the first one to notice the body resting against the metal structure and the boys went to make shovels and the girls went to finish arranging the straps of parachutes so they could finally make their tents today.

After 2 hours of digging the ground, stripping the guy, covering him, putting his body down and then covering with dirt, the boys were finally done burying the guy on the ground and getting his clothes. "Do you think Clarke and the others made it safely to Mount Weather?" Wells asked them as they all grabbed their stuff and the guy's and walked from there as Murphy looked at him. "I don't know but blondie can take care of herself and the idiots who followed her so they should be fine." He said a half lie and Wells nodded believing him as they passed a couple making out to which they shook their heads as they saw the others just playing around.

They passed by the entrance of the dropship and at the same time that Atom kid stopped them. "Hey, where did you get the clothes?" he asked them and Wells answered. "Buried the kid that died during landing." He said to him and the guy smirked. "Smart. You know, I will take it from here." He said and moved to grab the stuff but Wells shrugged him off. "Share based on need, just like back home." He said to him just as Bellamy walked out, shirtless along with a girl and his gun showing off on his belt and Murphy scoffed at him. Self-serving jackass. "You still don't get it, do you Chancellor?" He said as the girl kissed him and left.

"This is home. Your father's rule no longer applies." He said to Wells as he came closer and grabbed a shirt from Wells' arms. He tried to move forward but Murphy held him back. "Don't. Let him have it. He seems to be in need of one, anyway." He said to his friend and Wells nodded before looking at Bellamy and throwing the things away as the other guys near them ran to it like animals around a piece of meat. "Is this what you want? Chaos?" Wells asked him and Bellamy smirked. "What's wrong with a little chaos?" he asked him back when they heard a scream and Wells started running into that direction and Murphy looked at Bellamy.

"Nice wound." He said smirking at the split lip the guy was sporting from his punch the night before and then ran after his friends as he saw Charlotte and Bella standing away overlooking the scene that was happening right in front of them. "Bellamy, they are refusing to take the wristbands off, we have to give them a little incentive or else, they will not let us take it." Mbege said as he pulled the girl closer to the fire and Murphy sighed, was that really him once? Such a douchebag. Thankfully, he got better. Wells ran forward and pushed the boy away. "Let her go." He said before turning to Bellamy.

"You know, you can stop this." He said to Bellamy. "Stop this? I'm just getting started." He said before Mbege punched Wells and Murphy watched with his arms crossed. He wouldn't interfere in this fight because he knew how this would end and it would be good for Wells to show people he is more than just the Chancellor's son, prove that he can fight for himself. Mbege punched him again and Wells finally punched back and hard. They went to the ground as everyone cheered and Bellamy watched. Jessica and Charlotte came to Murphy. "Johnny, stop this. He is hurting Wells." Charlotte said to him and Bella begged him to stop it as well but he just shook his head.

"Trust me. It will be good for these people to learn not to mess with him. If it gets bad, I will step in and stop him from getting hurt but for now, let him do his thing." He said to them and they returned to watching the fight, just as the guy pulled out a knife and tried to attack Wells but Bellamy stopped the fight and gave Wells his knife like he did last time and it took the younger Jaha no time before he quickly disarmed the guy and held him in the headlock as he did once with Murphy himself. It was faster this time and without Wells getting hurt since Mbege was a worst fighter than Murphy had been. He waited for it and she didn't disappoint.

"Wells. Let him go." Clarke's voice came through from the other side of the woods and they all turned to the returning group as she came to her best friend's side and he shoved the boy away from them and Bellamy stood in between the two boys just before he saw Octavia and went to her. "Octavia, are you all right?" he said as Charlotte and Bella ran to their friends. Clarke felt a body colliding with her and she smiled at the younger girl as Wells hugged Bella. "Clarke, I was scared you wouldn't come back." Charlotte said and she smiled. "I'm here now." She said to the girl. "You okay there?" Murphy asked Clarke and she looked at him and he knew that what happened with Jasper went on again.

"Where is the food?" Bellamy asked as he helped his sister down. "Now you want to know? Neat," Murphy said to the guy. "We didn't make it to Mount Weather." Finn said while Clarke caressed Charlotte's hair and hugged her. "What the hell happened out there?" Bellamy said angrily. Clarke pulled back from Charlotte and stepped forward as Murphy held the younger girl's shoulders. "We were attacked." She said loudly and Wells looked at her. "Attacked by what?" he asked her and Finn was the one who answered. "Not what. Who. Turns out that when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last grounder." He said.

"It's true. Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here, survivors." She said looking over everyone that was around them watching what had been happening and continued on speaking. "The good news is that we can survive, radiation won't kill us." She said to them and as she expected. "Yeah, the bad news is that the grounders will." Finn said and this is where things were about to get real. "Where is the kid with the goggles?" Wells asked them and Clarke turned to him. "Jasper was hit. They took him." She said to him looking at his wrist noticing that his wristband was on, glad that Murphy stopped that and then turned to look at Mbege and saw that his was gone so that was her cue.

"Where is your wristband?" she asked the guy and he smirked but stayed quiet, Wells was the one who stepped in to answer her question. "Ask him." Wells said pointing at Bellamy and Clarke looked at him before she looked at Bellamy and saw the same look he had last time she asked that question, she then looked at Murphy and he understood her silent question and nodded and she sighed in defeat. Bellamy did a stupid thing again to get himself here, probably Jaha again, why did that not surprised her? So she would have to do this the hard way then. Fine. She turned to the guy in question. "How many?" she asked angrily at Bellamy. "15 and counting." Mbege said and she could barely hold her anger in and Murphy smirked. They were about to meet Wanheda. Good luck for them.

"So what I am hearing here is that you idiots have been taking off the only way of communication we have with the Ark? Is that right?" she asked and gave her bag to Murphy who had a smirk on his face, shit was about to get super real for Team Dumbass and then he looked at Bellamy and the other idiot as well as everyone else that was looking at them. "You remember what I said yesterday about you regretting getting the wristbands off?" he said to everyone as they looked at him. "I wasn't me you should have been worried about but her." he said and pointed at the blonde girl who was ready to do this.


	33. Dealing with idiots

Dealing with idiots

"Do you have any idea what you are doing? What you are accomplishing with an idiotic thing like this?" Clarke said without giving them time to answer as she started talking to everyone around them. "Life support on the Ark is failing. That is why they brought us down here, they need to know that the ground is survivable again and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off the wristband, you are not just killing them, you're killing us too, geniuses." She said the same thing she said the last time and Bellamy stepped up like she knew he stupidly would do so.

"We're stronger than you think. Don't listen to her. She is one of the privileged. If they come down, she will have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves, that wristband on your arm, it makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore. They say they will forgive your crimes, I say you're not criminals. You're fighters. Survivors. The grounders should worry about us." He said to the crowd pumping them to rebel against Clarke and the rules and everyone cheered and last time she had let this go but she wouldn't especially after what he just said. She had always known Bellamy was good at inspiring the kids, he was just about to find out that she was better.

"You know what is funny?" she said loudly to get their attention and everyone made silence to hear what she would say and even Bellamy turned to look at her. "What, princess?" he said smirking thinking he had won. "You were a cadet of the Guard." She said to everyone and his smirk fell off and hers went up and so did Murphy's. "You worked as a guard for the Council and you are over 18 which means you are not a prisoner like the rest of us so I wonder, how exactly can you speak for everyone here as if you are one of us given the interesting fact that not long ago you were working for the Council?" she said to him and didn't even let him say anything in response to that before she continued.

"My parents are on the Council, yes. Wells here, is the Chancellor's son. You're right, we will have it good if they come down, that is not a secret but even if we didn't, even if it meant we would be executed as soon as they came down, the two of us would still want them and all of our people to come down and you know why? 236." She said looking at everyone as they watched her. "Does that number mean anything to you?" she asked the crowd and could see them shaking their heads. "That is the number of children under the age of ten in the Ark." She said and could see their shock at the data she just presented them with.

"Every time you take that wristband, you're killing one of them. Bellamy says you are not criminals but isn't it murder what you want to do? The oxygen supply of the Ark is failing, they have 3 months tops before they all die suffocated unless they come down here so you see, if you stop them from doing that, you are the ones floating them. You really think that they will not start killing people to save themselves more time? Wake up. It's what they did to us. Sending us down here also gave them more time to wait for a solution but when that time is up, who do you think will be the first ones to go? The council or the working people? Your people?" She said to them and she could see how she was changing their mind and she would not stop now. She was on a roll.

"How many of you here have parents up there? Raise your hand." She said firmly and the good majority raised their hands. "Do you want your parents to die because you took the wristband off? Because you were selfish and only thought about yourself? Because you followed him?" she said and pointed at Bellamy and could see the others shaking their heads. "If when the Ark comes down, they don't pardon us, all of us, then we will leave. We have here and we have a world that is certainly big enough for everyone to live in but first, we need to save them." She said firmly and they cheered for her and agreed with what she was saying.

"Clarke is right and so are you. We are privileged but only up there. Down here, all of us matter the same and just think about, if we are not strong enough to go against the council to pardon us, how can you expect to go against the grounders without their help? We need them and they need us. We are all one people and we need to start acting like one, if they are screwing up then it is up to us to do the right thing. We can be better than them. We can do the right thing. That is what we are asking you to do. To be more than what they think you are or can be. Show them that we are strong but as a team." Wells said and Clarke let him continue.

"You may not realize this but every single person, every men, every women, children, elders, council members, working members, all of them are depending on us to save their lives, to given them a better future, a future where a father doesn't have to be killed for stealing medicine for his son, where a mother wouldn't be floated for stealing rations for her daughter. Their future is on our hands and we need to rise to the challenge and do for them the best we can and right now, those wristbands are the only way that we have to do that as of now. So think about it and do what is right, or all of us and all of them." He finished saying before he looked at Clarke and nodded at her letting her take over once again.

"You heard Wells. We are the only one who can save our people and that is what we will do. No one is to take the wristband off or there will be consequences to be faced with. Understood?" She said firmly and they all nodded. "Good, a group of us will leave to get Jasper back, those of you who will stay here, start grabbing woods and start making a wall surrounding the Dropship. We need to defend ourselves from any threats and no more fights. We face whatever is out there as one people, okay? Anyone who disrespects that will be punished as well. Chaos will not be allowed here. We will do this and will do this right. It's the only chance we have." she said to them and they agreed and cheered for her and she turned around and met Bellamy's stare as she walked past him and her friends followed her.

They all went into the dropship and to the upper level. "Is that true? What you said? About the grounders and the Ark dying?" Jessica asked her and Clarke nodded. "Yes to both of the questions but since that second problem seems solved for now, I will need a group to go with me to rescue Jasper. Wells, can you grab a parachute so that we can try and use it to carry him?" she said to the guy and he nodded. "There is a part of it we haven't cut yet." He said and went to grab it. "And who will go with you?" Charlotte asked her and Clarke finished putting a few things inside her bag before she looked at the girl. "I don't know yet." She said and Wells volunteered as he came back with a bag and the parachute. "I'll go with you. I can help." He said and she nodded. The girls were helping him with put it inside.

"Okay then let's go. There is one more person to get to come with us." She said to him as she moved to grab Murphy and pull him away. "You stopped them before, didn't you?" she whispered and he nodded. "I knew I just needed to give you time to come back to get them on the side of good. Nice speech, by the way. Better than the last one." He said to her and she pushed him slightly and looked at the others a little away from them. "Well, yeah." She said and he pulled her closer and spoke in her ear. "Was Jasper really necessary?" he asked very lowly so only she could hear him and pulled back as she looked at him grimly and nodded.

"Unfortunately, but he will be fine." She said and he nodded. "You're going to bring him again with you to search for Japer, aren't you? Bellamy and Mbege?" he asked her and she nodded passing to him very swiftly her guns. "You're crazy, you know that?" He said adjusting it inside his bag to keep it safe and she smiled. "Keep them all safe and working, will you?" she said to him and he nodded. "Yeah. Babysitting duty, check." He said and she shoved him away before turning to the others. "You're ready?" she asked Wells and he nodded and Charlotte came to her and hugged her. "You will come back, right?" she asked and Clarke hugged her.

"Of course, I will. Don't worry, I will be back before you even notice I was gone." She said to Charlotte and kissed the girl's head and looked at Jessica. "Take care of her and I'll take care of him." She said smiling motioning to Wells and everyone laughed. "Of course. You don't even have to ask." The girl said to her and Clarke hugged her as well. She was very nice and she seemed to like Wells very much so she was definitely part of their little group. "Okay, let's go." She moved towards the ladder and Wells followed her down until the ground floor. "Clarke." Monty called to her as she turned to look at him. "No one else volunteered so far." He said to her and she nodded.

"I know. It's okay but Monty, you're not going with us." She said to the guy and he came to her. "The hell I'm not, Jasper is my best friend." He said firmly and she shook her head. "You're too important. You were raised in Farm Station and recruited by Engineering so that means food and communication, we are in desperate need of both so what is in here is going to save us all and I promise you, we will bring him back. Just focus on getting us to talk to the Ark, right now that is what we need from you the most. I will take care of Jasper, I promise." She said and he nodded and she turned around as Wells followed before she was met with Finn.

"We're leaving, are you coming with us?" she asked and he shook his head. "No and neither should you. That spear was thrown with pin point accuracy from three hundred feet." He said and she sighed. "So what? We let Jasper die?" Monty said and she turned to him. "That is not going to happen." She said to the younger boy and turned back to Finn. "If you don't want to come, then don't. No one is forcing you to." She said and walked past him. "Make sure to build that wall. I will watch after her." Wells said as he followed her out and she heard Monty say something but couldn't properly hear what it was.

"Where are we going?" Wells asked her and she looked at him apologetically before moving to the direction where Bellamy and Octavia were and he sighed. "You have got to be kidding me." He said to her and she smirked at him as they got closer to the siblings. "You could have been killed." Bellamy said to his sister and Clarke stepped in like before. "She would have if Jasper didn't jump in to pull her out of the water, you know?" She said to him. "You guys leaving? I'm coming too." Octavia said trying to move but Bellamy stopped her. "No way, not again." He said and Clarke nodded. "He is right. Your leg is just going to slow us down." She said.

"I'm here for you." She said looking directly at Bellamy who looked at her over his shoulder. "I heard you have a gun." She said and he lifted his shirt to show it, she didn't even look at it. "Good. Follow me." she said moving past him. "Why would I do that? Your little friend has a gun too. Go ask him." He said and she knew what to say to motivate him. She hadn't known that Murphy had already revealed their weapons but he must have to be able to keep the numbers of bracelets off lower than last time, though Bellamy only mentioned one gun which meant Murphy kept the other hidden from him. Smart.

"I am not asking Murphy to come because one, I need him to stay here and make sure that no wristbands comes off and that the others start working on building the wall like I asked them too so we can be better protected and honestly, I don't trust you to do that while I'm gone. And two, because you want them to follow you and they think only one of us is worth following so far. So are you coming Blake or not?" She said and smirked as she moved forward, Wells following her, as she could hear the guy speak with someone and she already knew what he was doing which made her smirk grow bigger.

He was getting Mbege to come with him and Atom to babysit Octavia who clearly will redefine the meaning of that means to which Clarke let a small smile grace her face. Typical Bellamy, once again overprotecting Octavia without any idea of what she would become before this was all over. Her attention was brought back to the moment in question by Wells speaking to her. "Clarke, they are dangerous criminals, are you sure about this?" Wells asked and she turned to him. "I am counting on that and don't worry, I know exactly what I'm doing." She said as she turned to look at the two boys before she continued on their path.

Meanwhile back on the Ark, Raven had just gotten back from a trip outside when she saw that Jake was there waiting for her on the other side of the door which was unusual so she immediately got worried and rushed to get the gear off. "Damn it, Raven. Wait for pressurization." The other guy working with her said but she rushed and got the helmet off. "Jake." She said once the door was opened and he sighed. The guys came to help her get the rest of the suit off and she immediately went to grab her own clothes and get dressed before she went to his side. "Something's wrong with them?" she asked and he nodded for her to come and join him.

"We lost contact with them completely, something went wrong during the trip down and now, only the wristbands are keeping us informed of what could be going on down there and even then it's not telling us many good things. A lot of their transmissions have been terminated." He explained and she looked at him worriedly. "Any of them? Finn?" she asked dreading his answer when she noticed the path they were taking. The direction towards the control room. "No, they are all okay, including Finn but do you know why we sent them?" he asked and she shook her head.

"The Ark is dying, Raven. We have 2 month of air so we sent them down to see if the Earth was survivable for us and to give us a little more time up here." Jake said and she looked at him shocked. She had no idea. "So that was the flaw you got us working on all that time?" she asked and he nodded. "Yes and just like I needed your help then, I need your help now." He said as he opened the door to the control room and brought her in. She looked around at the people working as the two of them came to the front of the screen. "Chancellor, this is the girl I talked to you about." He said as Jaha, Abby, Callie and Kane turned to look at her and she looked at them nervously.

"Hey, what's up?"


	34. Trust you or not?

To trust you or not?

Jake smiled at her greeting as did Abby and Kane but Jake took over for the brunette before she said something bad. "Chancellor, this is Raven Reyes. The youngest Zero-G mechanic in 52 years and a dear friend to both of our kids." Jake said to him and he nodded. "Yes, I know. We have met before in dire circumstances." He said and she held it in to not give him hell since what he was talking about was Charlotte's parents' death. "Yes, sir." She said before she looked up at the screens. "Many of those are dark." She said and they nodded. "Yes, a lot of them happened at once and then none at all." Abby said and she smiled.

"They were taking them off." She said easily and the adults turned to look at her. "The bracelets. My guess is that they were taking them off but something or someone stopped them. My money would be that Clarke did it. She is quite bossy and surely she would know why the bracelets are there to begin with and would have convinced them to stop whatever it was they were doing." She said to them and Jake and Abby looked at each other and smiled and Kane smiled as well. This was working better than he could have hoped. Jake really made a huge difference. "Why would they do that though?" Callie asked.

"Because we told them not too." Jaha said smiling. "See, this could mean that they are perfectly fine." Abby said to the man and he nodded leaving them to talk to the girl. "Sorry but why exactly am I here?" she asked and they turned serious. "Like I explained to you on the way here, we lost all communications with them and we need to talk to them immediately to know if Earth really is survivable or not so I suggested a solution to that problem and the Chancellor agreed and that solution is you, Raven." Jake said as he looked at her and she looked at the others before turning back to him. "We want you to go to Earth." Jake said and her eyes went wide and the only thing she could say was. "What the fuck Jake?"

Back on Earth, the little group was walking through the forest, Clarke and Wells quite ahead of the other two when Bellamy and Mbege came to their side, Bellamy waving his gun around like an idiot, just like his sister, he had a lot of growing up to do and that was the part that annoyed Clarke the most about this version of him. "Hey, hold up. What's the rush? You don't survive a spear through the heart." He said to them and Wells moved towards him. "Put the gun away, Bellamy." Mbege moved to stop him so she stopped them all. "Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he would have died instantly. It doesn't mean we have time to waste." She moved to turn around but he grabbed her arm and she shrugged him off.

"As soon as you both take these wristbands off, we can go." He said smirking at her and she did the same thing that she did before. "The only way the Ark is going to think we're dead is if we're dead. Got it?" she said to him and he smirked at her. "Brave princess," He said and as she expected, Finn appeared out of thin air. "Why don't you find your own nickname? You call this a rescue party. Then, split up and cover more ground. Clarke, come with me," He said and moved though she grabbed Wells and pulled him along with them. "Let's go." She said and moved past Bellamy who stayed a few feet behind.

"Decided to be suicidal?" She said to the long haired guy and Finn nodded at her and smiled. "What can I say? I like challenges." He said jokingly and she let go of Wells' arm as she heard the other two following them, after a few seconds of what seemed like deliberation. There was no way she would leave her best friend with those two again, the last time she did it only because one she was angry with Wells and two, she had a little growing crush on Finn but neither one was true this time so she would keep him by her side, she would not let anything happen to him. She thought as they continued on their way.

Back in the 100 camp, Murphy was working with the other kids, helping them and instructing them to grab the woods that are around them so they can start making the wall Clarke suggested as fast as possible. From what he could see, Clarke's speech really did what it was supposed to. No one has tried to take the wristband off and they were actually working together, of course there was the usual banter here and there, a shove, a punch but all minor things and there was always someone there to remind them of what she said and it would stop. Blondie was really born for this leader thing.

He had to give it to her, the first time they did this all he thought of her was that she was daddy's little princess who had everything made to her taste and that everyone did whatever she wanted and who wanted power to order everyone around and although it took him quite a long time he was able to see that she was nothing like what he had thought of her, that she was someone who was handed the power because she knew what to do with it in the best possible way. He understood now that what bad memories they had between them was in the past and now here he was, helping her run things. How heroic. He chuckled internally.

"Do you think they were able to find the guy yet?" Jessica asked pulling him back from his thoughts and to the real world as she worked on the tents like he had asked her and Charlotte to do. He was building it and they were sewing the parachute or whatever was they were doing. It was getting quite big since he wanted it to house as many of them as possible, better that way for safety reasons. "No, they left a little while ago, I don't think they found him that soon, do you, Johnny?" Charlotte asked and he shook his head. "Probably not. I think is going to take a while for them to find him and then to bring him back," He said and as one of the people who went before he knew that was true.

"Do you think they are fine? I heard that Bellamy and Mbege went with them. And also Finn." Jessica said and he nodded at her as he turned to look at the others to check that everything was going on okay before he answered her. "Don't worry. Knowing that, I just worry for Bell boy and the lesser John. Between Blondie, Junior and Spacehair, they will be the ones in danger." He said and they laughed at all the nicknames he gave their friends and the other two. "I need to go grab a few seatbelts, they can help tie this up, you guys stay here and out of trouble, got it?" he said and they nodded and he went into the dropship and to the top level since they were a lot there unused but the hatch was locked.

"What the hell?" he opened it and went up and when he looked around he saw Octavia and Monty and he had taken her bracelet off. Murphy went off on them once he saw it. "What the hell, dude? Clarke said no more wristbands off." He said as he came up to them. "She also said that I should try to communicate with the Ark." He said a little scared but Murphy shook his head. "Not like this, dude. There has to be another way for you to do that. What if it goes wrong and you end up frying them all? What would the Ark think then?" he said knowing thanks to Clarke that that was exactly what happened before.

"He was just trying to help." Octavia said trying to defend the young guy with her but Murphy just shook his head at them. "Yeah, your brother was just trying to help his ass too and look at where it almost got us. Look, just stop with this, okay? No more wristbands, no matter what. Try the wires in this junk place or something but not this. You got that?" he said seriously and the boy nodded. "Good, now give them to me," he said and collected the ones Monty had there. "I better not see you meddling with this again," He said before he grabbed what he needed and made his way down. Idiots, he thought.

Meanwhile in the forest, the small group continued walking in silence, mostly, Clarke not really up for talking to anyone, maybe except Wells but he was busing admiring the tree and she wanted to let him have that moment to himself. That was until Finn grabbed her hand to get her attention and she looked at him. "I've been thinking about Mount Weather. How come they didn't attack until Jasper crossed the river? It was not like we were being quiet and they didn't know we were there." He said to her and she nodded. "They waited for us to cross, the river is a boundary," She said to him. "Which means Mount Weather is off limits," He said and Wells looked at them. "How are we going to get those supplies? What are going to do for food?" he asked.

"We can hunt. We saw a deer on our way so if there is one, there is more and for the water part…," she looked at the forest and ushered them to follow her. "This way, come on," She said and they nodded as they came across the little river she knew would be there. It was the same on she found with Finn. "It seems that we got that covered," She said as he looked at them and moved towards it and the boys followed her.

She immediately went to gather it for Jasper while Finn went playing again and Wells stood by her side as Finn splashed them both and she knew what would happen and that this was the first romantic moment they had and she would not let it happen again so she looked at him and what she said was, "Have fun," She said, drank a little water and turned around walking away. "Come on, Clarke." He said but she was out of the water by then and Wells followed her.

"Are you okay?" he asked seriously and she nodded smiling. "Yes, I just don't want him to get any ideas on his head about me. He is Raven's boyfriend, remember?" she said as he nodded understanding her reasons which were true and they both waited for Finn to come back to where they were. "You guys are no fun," He said and she shook her head. "No, we're responsible and we actually want to find Jasper as soon as possible," She said as she looked at the other side of the river and noticed it just like she did before. "Look, there is blood there," She pointed out.

The boys turned and looked at the direction she was pointing at and gasped as they saw the blood, quite a large amount of it from what they could see from where they stood. "Wells, call the others," Clarke said as she moved towards the river and crossed it in one swift move until she got to the other side and went straight for the goggles on the floor and picked it up. Finn was by her side. "Jasper was here," She said and he lowered down and touched the rock and got blood on his fingers. "We're close." He said and she nodded looking out towards the forest.

"Hey, princess." Bellamy said from the other side as Wells crossed. "Come on, Bellamy. We don't have time to waste," She said to him and Finn started leading the way as the others finally caught up with them. "Clarke, that amount of blood is bad, isn't it?" Wells asked her and she nodded. "Yes, but if we can find him in time, it might not be. I might still be able to save him." She said to her best friend as they continued following Finn through the forest. "How do we know this is the way they took him?" Mbege asked. "We don't. Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker." Bellamy said mockingly.

"It's called cutting sign. Fourth year Earth Skills. He is good." Wells said explaining though Clarke shivered at what Earth Skills reminded her off or rather, who. "Will you keep it down or should I paint a target on your backs?" Finn said irritated and Clarke's neck hair stood up and immediately she knew they were being watched so she tensed. The training she received from Becca at the valley really paid off. She tried to keep it cool to not alert whoever was out there that she knew anything so they would not start an attack on her friends and herself. Finn saw the broken branch and crouched down to look at the blood on the floor and she kneeled beside him. They looked at each other.

Then, they heard what Clarke knew to be Jasper's moans. "What the hell was that?" and although Clarke knew what it was, she continued to play innocent. "Now, would be a good time to take out that gun." She said to Bellamy and moved forward and as she did, she judged what she was about to do. Last time, when she saw Jasper tied up, she just moved forward and almost fell through a hole. Bellamy saved her. Murphy had called her crazy when he realized that she would get Bellamy to join them because he knew already what she would do right now if he came. They all saw Jasper hanging by the tree.

"Jasper. Oh my God, Jasper." She said and moved forward, she knew she could warn them that this could be a trap but she knew deep down that if Jasper being hit was a marker, this was a milestone for her and Bellamy's friendship and she would really like to have her friend back so she kept moving forward ignoring Finn's warning and took a deep breath before she took the fateful step and the floor fell from underneath her and as she was falling she felt a hand grab hers and when she looked up, Bellamy was there with that same look on his face and while the others were coming to help and he didn't let her fall, she knew she had made the right choice.


	35. Taking Charge

Taking charge

"Clarke. Pull her up. Pull her up." The others said as they helped Bellamy lift her up and pull her out of the whole she almost fell in. "Clarke, you're okay?" Finn was the one who asked her and she nodded at him, her heart still racing, it had been scary to fall especially since she was gambling that Bellamy would do the same he did last time. "Yeah, I'm fine," She said breathing hard as he helped her get on her feet and she looked at Bellamy. "Thank you," She said to him as she felt Finn's hands on her shoulders and she was back to business. She secured her bag on her shoulder and looked at the boy. "We need to get him down," She said to Finn.

"I'll climb up there and cut the vines." Finn said to her and she nodded and he moved forward before he looked at Mbege. "You, let's go." He said as the boy looked at Bellamy who nodded and he moved forward. Wells came to her and hugged her and she hugged him back resting her head on his chest, given the fact that they were okay and he was not jealous of Finn, Wells had not offered to help the boy instead coming to sty by her side immediately. "You're sure you're okay?" he asked her and she nodded at him. "I'm fine. Jasper is the one who needs our help right now. You see that?" she pointed at the boy and he looked at where she was pointing and so did Bellamy as the other boys got closer.

"That is a poultice on the wound." She said as she pulled back a little but not letting go of him completely just yet, she was still a little shaken up by the experience. "Medicine?" Wells asked her and she nodded. "Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" he asked no one in particular and Bellamy answered. "Maybe what they wanted to catch like his dinner to be breathing," He said as Finn looked at them. "Maybe what they're trying to catch is us." He said having heard the conversation and everyone seemed to freeze except Clarke who already knew what was happening so she looked around for that panther but couldn't see it.

Meanwhile in the Ark, Raven and the other adults were in the council room except Jaha who Abby send to his room to rest a little, the wound still very fresh and needed extreme care. "Raven, there is a possibility that there was something engineering could do about the flaw that we haven't tried before but even if we found that, it would take us 6 months to do it, if it would work at all. In the meantime, there is another solution that some of the Council members feel is a better one and it is to float a certain number of people to help save oxygen." Jake explained and Kane shuddered.

Last time he was the one pushing forward that solution without knowing it was unnecessary and so many of his people died for nothing, he wouldn't let this happen twice. "That is wrong, Jake. You can't kill innocent people like that." She said readily to her boss and friend and he nodded, "I agree, we agree with you," He said motioning to himself, Abby and Kane since Callie wasn't part of the council. "But there are others who think is a good idea and if Jaha see his hands tied since we can't know for sure that the kids are okay on the ground, he might not have a choice and that's where you come in," he said explaining and she nodded.

"You want me to go to Earth to get you in contact with the hundred?" she asked him and they all nodded. "There is an old pod in here, I will show it to you later. I managed to convince Jaha to give us a chance. You will fix it and when it's ready, you will go down with a radio and make contact with us but pay attention to this Raven," Jake said and Abby continued the explanation, "You only have a short space of time to contact us. The Council agreed to what we suggested but they also stipulated that if there is no contact from you in five hours counting from the moment you launch, they will start preparation to kill 300 people." Abby finished the explanation and the young mechanic nodded at her.

"So if I manage to make contact with you as soon as I land, then those people will be safe? No one will be killed right?" she asked and Kane nodded. "Yes. If you make contact and it is positive that the Earth is survivable, we will start preparing for the exodus of all of our people to the ground." Kane said and she nodded. "Okay, count me in. I know those idiots will need a genius with them anyway or else they will just get in trouble. Where is that pod and when can I start working on it?" she said excitedly and the four adults smiled as well, things were looking better. Now Kane just needed to make sure that Raven got there exactly when she is supposed to and everything would be fine.

Back on the Earth, the boys continued to cut down the vines and suddenly, there was a growl from somewhere around them and everyone turned to look everywhere searching for the source of the noise. "What the hell was that? Did you guys hear it?" Mbege asked scared. More movements on the bushes. "Grounders?" Bellamy asked with a scared tone Clarke was sure he would never admit to it but she heard it and it almost made her smile if it wasn't for the danger waiting to pounce on them, literally. If it was all going down the same way, that means Wells has the gun though she has no idea how Bellamy hadn't notice that it was gone.

They looked at the panther coming their way and Clarke looked straight into its eyes and she remembered when she fought one of these before and Niylah took care of her and what happened next just as it growled and started moving in her direction. "Bellamy, gun!" she said and watched him looking for it in his belt and not finding it when suddenly Wells made the shot once, twice, when he finally hit it but on the leg and it kept coming and it hid in the bushes and Bellamy looked scared waiting for it to jump on him and Wells tried to find it but Clarke knew where it was so she simply moved towards Wells, grabbed the gun, aimed it and shot it and suddenly the noise and the movements stopped.

She moved forward and towards where she shot it. "Clarke," Wells said as she kneeled down in the bushes, grabbed the legs and started pulling it while walking backwards until she let it go of it right in front of Bellamy and she looked at him. "Grab some vines and tie the feet and grab a big piece of wood so that we can carry it back to camp," She said as she offered his gun back and he took it while still looking at her in shock and surprise, even maybe in awe. "Wells, help him and you two keep cutting before more of them come. This time, we're out of bullets." She said and moved back in front of the tree and noticed everyone looking at her.

Bellamy was still surprised but she could see some admiration there, Wells was flat out shocked and trying to recover, Mbege was scared of her and Finn was smiling at her. "Are you guys deaf or what? We need to get out of here fast, Jasper needs help so get to work and you two careful with him," She said and that seemed to have snapped as they quickly went to do as she said and she relaxed, one problem solved. Now, what's next? She though as she wiped her forehead as she overlooked as the boys got Jasper down, instructing them to be careful not to move him too much, she grabbed some vines as well.

"Put him down. You, Mbege, find two big logs of wood and Finn, help me get some more vines too. We are making him a stretcher," She said explaining it as she went to Wells, opened his bag and took out the part of the parachute he had brought and once they had everything, she and Finn tied very securely the parachutes to the logs with the vines they found and very slowly put Jasper in it. "Okay, Wells, you and Finn can carry Jasper. Mbege, help Bellamy with the panther and let's go, we should be getting back to camp by nightfall," She said and the boys switched place and did as she asked and they started on their way back with Clarke leading the way.

Back on camp, it was already dark and Murphy, Jessica and Charlotte were sitting around near the fire. They had finished building their tents. In the end, they decided on making it smaller but more of it, Jessica's suggestion actually, and a good one so it was decided that one would be for the girls and one for the boys. Others started seeing what they were doing and decided to make tents for themselves as well and now there were a few already. Good, which means less people inside the dropship and complaining about Jasper's scream because it was coming, he knew it was and it was quite disturbing so at least this was better. It also gives Clarke some peace and calm to work on the boy.

"They should have been back by now." Jessica said worriedly as she redid Charlotte's braid in two instead of just one. "They should be arriving here soon. It just got dark, must be harder getting back now but they will be fine, just have to wait a little longer," He said and she nodded still looking out at the entrance every once in a while. The kids had followed what Clarke had said and had started to build a wall and there was even a gate now so the three friends were sitting facing it so that they could see when the others came in and soon enough, someone called out. "They're back."

The three of them stood up to see the Clarke leading the way as the boys carried Jasper toward the dropship as Monty was just coming out of it. "Is he okay?" he asked Clarke as Octavia came closer as well and Clarke nodded at him. "He will be, don't worry. Boys, get him to the upper level as carefully as you can, I will be going there in just a second." She said to Finn and Wells and they nodded moving inside it as Monty followed them. "I need boiled water and strips of clothes for bandages. Can you get that for me?" she asked Octavia who nodded and quickly went to get it.

She watched as Bellamy and Mbege brought in the panther and everyone looked at it. "Who's hungry?" Bellamy yelled and everyone cheered but Clarke moved in. "Everyone, wait." She called out and they stopped to look at her. "I know that everyone is hungry and we never had proper meat before, not even in the Ark but we need to save it a little for tomorrow because we don't know when we will be able to catch one of these again so please, only one piece for person and the rest, there is a couple of plants here that we can use to preserve the meat for later. Okay?" she said firmly but also gently and they nodded agreeing.

"Okay, Murphy, come here," She called the boy and he went to her side promptly. She gave him the bag of plants. "You know how to use this, help them cook it," She said and looked at him and he understood that she wanted to avoid Bellamy monopolizing the food and forcing people to talk the wristband off for it and he nodded. "You got it," He said and she smiled. "Enjoy the feast." She said to them and everyone cheered at her and Murphy went to the boys. "Excuse me but I have a panther to cook." He said grabbing it before Bellamy grabbed his arm to stop him.

"You don't get tired of doing what she says?" he asked and Murphy shrugged him off. "No and for as long as she is keeping us alive and actually using her head to make life easier for all of us here, neither should any of you. Believe me, if she has a talent, it is for leadership. Blondie was born for this crap. The sooner you accept it, the better. For you." He said loud enough for everyone to hear and left shrugging Bellamy off as he took the panther to the little table they had made as he looked at Clarke talking with the girls and smirked before going back to his job.

Clarke smiled as she came closer to the girls and Charlotte hugged her tightly and she hugged her back. "We were starting to get worried," Charlotte said and Clarke nodded. "I know. Our dinner gave us a little trouble but we are all fine, including Jasper," She said as the little girl pulled back and she hugged Jessica too. "Wells is back and unharmed as I promised." She said saluting and the girl smiled at her. "Thank you." She said sincerely and Clarke shook her head. "No need. He is family and now so are you by the way." She said and the girl nodded before they heard Octavia calling for her.

"Clarke, I got what you asked," She said and the blonde nodded. "Get it up there, I'm on my way," She said and Octavia moved inside and Clarke turned back and looked at Charlotte. "Do you want to help me?" she asked the little girl who looked at her surprised. "Me?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "You're the only one besides me who knows anything about healing, thanks to your time with me and Mom in MedBay. I will need help," Clarke said and Charlotte nodded. "Lead the way, Dr. Griffin." Charlotte said and Clarke chuckled. "Jessica, can you go help Murphy?" Clarke asked and the girl nodded moving towards the boy and their food before the blonde and Charlotte went inside the dropship.


	36. My patient, my call

My patient, my call

The two girls got inside the dropship and went all the way up until they got to the upper level where everyone was surrounding the boy so Clarke put a stop to it. "Okay. Let's organize this. Wells and Finn, you can go down and help Murphy with the meat. Octavia, you can go down as well. Monty, you will stay right?" She asked and he nodded. "Okay, then everyone else get down, please." She said as she went to Jasper's side. "Charlotte, gather a few things we can use as pillow and put it under his head." She said and the girl did as she asked as Wells and Octavia got down when she felt a presence beside her and it was Finn and when she looked at what was on his hand, she sighed.

The little two headed deer he made her before. When Raven found this and she claimed it as hers, that is when the older girl knew she was the one he had slept with but that would not happen here, no chance in hell. "Thank you." She said to him politely. "Now go please. I need to take a good look over him and his wound," She said and he nodded and left and when Charlotte got back and helped lifted Jasper's head up on the makeup pillow she made, Clarke didn't think twice before offering the deer to the girl. "For you," She said and the girl smiled, not having seen the whole exchange.

"It's cute." She said and Clarke smiled as she dipped the cloth in the water and extended it to the girl. "Okay, now put that away somewhere you won't lose and clean the cuts on his face while I check if he has any more wounds." She said and the girl did as told and she went to check him. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Monty asked and she looked at him. "Try and talk to him. If he loses consciousness, it could be a bad sign," She said and he nodded moving to his friend's line of view and started talking to him as Clarke and Charlotte smiled and continued their work.

Meanwhile on the Ark, Raven and Jake were walking along the halls in silence until they came to stop in front of a door on a pretty deserted area of the Ark that she had not been to before and he opened the door, going inside before he motioned for her to come in too and she did and there it was. The pod he told her about. The one she would use to get to Earth "Wow, is this a piece of a museum?" she said to him and he chuckled. "I know, I always felt the same way looking at this thing," He said and she smiled before she went closer and he crossed his arms and watched her take a look at it.

"How much time do I have to fix this?" she asked and he sighed. "Nine days." He said and she looked at him in shock and he nodded. "I know," He said sighing deeply and she looked back at the pod. "This is pure junk. They must have found this when they saved it from MIR 3 in 2102." She moved around it and came to look at him. "You want me to get a 130 year old escape pod ready to stand up to the inferno of reentry in nine days?" she asked slowly and he smiled at her. "Feeling challenged? Want to give up?" he asked and she looked at the necklace and held it before looking back at him.

"You got yourself a mechanic, jackass," She said and he smiled and nodded. "I knew I could count on you but Raven, I won't be able to help you. As head engineer and council member, I have the rest of the Ark to take care of. You will have to do this on your own but anything you need and I will do my best to help." He said and she nodded. "Don't worry. I got this and since we have such an adorable time limit, I better get started." She said getting her tool box and taking of her red jacket. "Very well, I will leave you to it and good luck, kid." He said leaving and she held onto her necklace tightly. "Yeah, good luck to me," she said before she started assessing what the problem with this thing was. Or rather what wasn't a problem.

Back in camp, Clarke had finished her work with Jasper for the moment. "I will go down and get us something to eat. Stay here with him and any change, come and get me, okay?" she said and the younger girl nodded and Clarke went to the ladder and got down, walking out of the dropship and seeing Murphy and Jessica in charge of the meat as she asked and no wristbands off, all of which made her smile. She saw Finn and Wells eating and came to them as they looked at her. "How is he?" Wells asked her and she sighed. "He is stable for now but he needs medicine." She said and they sighed.

"Why don't you go and get some meat for yourself? You deserve it. You were the one who caught it," Finn said and she nodded. "Yeah, I will. Thanks," She said to him and went to the fire and greeted everyone and Murphy already had her stick with meat in hand and passed to her. "Well done, blondie." He said clapping for her as she took a bite and sighed. "This is so good," She said and he nodded eating his piece as well. "I got Charlotte's and Monty's piece and the rest is already prepared for tomorrow," He said and she smiled.

"Thanks but I need to talk to you," She said sounding serious and he nodded understanding it was those conversations. They both grabbed the pieces and went to give Charlotte and Monty who thanked them and when they came back down, they went to the side of the dropship where they could oversee everyone enjoying and playing and Bellamy leaving camp to go looking for Octavia and they both smiled. "Lover boy number 1 will be in trouble," Murphy said and she smiled. "Yeah especially tomorrow that the acid fog will make its appearance," She said grimacing and he nodded. "I figured," He said.

"Look, Wells and I will leave tomorrow and Finn will probably come with us. Before, Charlotte went after the hunting party and she stayed with Bellamy and that's when he gives her the idea to slay her demons. I got half of that covered by making her friends with Wells but Atom will die if he goes and I would like to avoid all of it so keep Charlotte and Atom here if you can, okay?" she said and he nodded. "I will try my best but you know he will follow Bellamy," He said and she nodded sighing. "I know that and maybe there is nothing that can help avoid it. It's his choice after all and we can only do so much but that doesn't mean we can't try." She said and he nodded.

"Okay, I will try my best with Atom but don't worry, Charlotte is not going anywhere," He said and she nodded. "Thanks." She said and he smirked. "You got them to make that stretcher for Jasper and the panther, right?" he said and she laughed nodding. "I also killed the panther, if you want to know," She said joking and he laughed along with her just as Charlotte came out of the dropship and looked in their directions. "Clarke!" she called and ran to them. "Clarke, he is getting worse, I think." She said and Clarke nodded.

"Show time," She said to him and went along with the girl and he nodded before he moved to their tent and opened it to find Wells and Jessica making out, touchy feely and all. The two of them blushed as they pulled apart and were speechless so all he could do was chuckle at them. "Sorry, Junior. I didn't mean to cockblock you. I will go to the other one." He said laughing as he walked out and into the next tent while still laughing hard. As Clarke and Charlotte got up to where they had Jasper, they went straight to the boy. She grabbed her father's watch and checked his pulse.

"His pulse is dropping." She said to the girl and he moaned once again. "Shut up that kid." Someone said from lower levels, it was about to start, people ordering her to shut him up or just kill him. She got closer to Jasper and whispered to him, "Don't listen to them. You're going to make through this, okay? I'm Wanheda, I command you not to die one me, Jas." Clarke said so only he could hear her even if he didn't and caressed his hair. "Charlie, can you watch him? I will get some clean water. Be right back." She said and went down and out of the dropship and looked up at the sky before going to get the water she needed and went back inside.

Jasper couldn't sleep all night. Clarke got Charlotte to go to sleep after a few hours but she stayed up with him checking over him and so did Monty and all night, there were people saying mean things to Jasper and she just ignored them and kept taking care of him but it was already morning and soon enough she knew she would have to be leaving and she started taking the poultice off his wound and started cleaning it as Finn came up. "The grounders cauterized his wound. They saved his life," She said. "Saved his life so they could string him up for live bait," Finn said as he leaned against the metal wall. "Garden of Eden, this ain't."

"This is infected. Any progress with fixing the communication system?" she asked Monty and he shook his head. "That would be a firm no." He said just as Wells came up the ladder. "How is he doing?" he asked crunching down on her side. "Not well but there is only one thing I can do now so I will need you to hold his leg and Finn, hold his arms," She said to the boys as she grabbed the knife and put it on the fire on her side. "I'm not going to like this, am I?" Monty asked and she shook her head. "No, you're not." She said grimly and waited for a couple of minutes for the knife to heat up.

"Okay, are you guys ready? He can't move or I could hurt him more." She said and the boys nodded and she grabbed the knife and moved over to the wound and as soon as it made contact, Jasper's screams got worse and he started trashing. "Hold him still. I need to cut the infected flesh before it gets worse," She said to them and Jasper was losing consciousness just as Octavia came up. "Stop, you're killing him," She said to Clarke. "She's trying to save his life," Finn said as Bellamy came up. "She can't," He said and Wells stood up to face him. "Back off." He said to the guy.

"He is not going to die. Period. If you are not here to be anything other than a jackass, leave." Clarke said as she continued her work. "The kid's a goner. If you can't see that, you're deluded. He is making people crazy." Bellamy said and she turned to look at him. "Should I give up on you too if you find yourself in his situation one day? Simply let you die because people are irritated?" she asked him and he got quiet. "My mother is the chief doctor and if I say he is going to make it, he is going to make it. There is still hope for him." She said turning back to her patient. "This is not about hope. It's about guts. You don't have the guts to make the hard choices." He said to her.

"I do. He's been like this for 3 days. If he is not better by tomorrow, I will kill him myself." He said but just before he turned to leave, Clarke turned to him. "Since this is about guts, let me tell you something. If you don't leave Jasper alone, you will find yourselves without your guts, how about that?" she said seriously as she saw Wells smile and Finn smirk and she turned her back on the guy. "Octavia, let's go," He said and she didn't even look at him. "I'm staying here." She said firmly and Clarke smirked as he went down the ladder.

"Power hungry, self-serving jackass. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. No offense." Monty said and Octavia shrugged. "Yeah, Bellamy is all of that but he also happens to be right." Finn said and Clarke looked at him. "No, he is not." She said firmly then she wrapped his wound and grabbed the poultice. "Octavia, look after him for a while. I will ask for Charlotte to come up here, she knows what to do. Wells, come with me," She said and stood up and went for the ladder and got down, Wells following her outside.

"Take a look at this and see if you know what this is after all you're the botany ace. I will go get Charlotte." She said and passed the poultice to him and walked out and went to the tent Murphy said were hers and the girls and she went in and there she was, sleeping peacefully and Clarke hated to wake her up but she needed her so she shook the girl. "Charlie, wake up. I need your help." She said and it didn't take long for the girl to wake up. "Hey, what is it?" she said and Clarke smiled. "I need you to go take care of Jasper for me, can you do that?" she said and Charlotte nodded.

"Okay." She said and then she was out of the tent and Clarke followed and could see her running to the dropship and she went back to where Wells was looking at the plants like she asked. "And?" she said and he looked at her. "Easy, seaweed." He said though she already knew but she played as if she didn't. "It has antibiotic properties so a tea would be better, we just need to find more of it." She said and he nodded as Finn came to them. "Are you angry?" he asked her and she looked at him. "No." She said and turned back to Wells.

"There's got to be a water source nearby." She said to her friend and he nodded at her. "It would have to have a slow current and the water would be more red than green." He said and Finn intervened. "I know just the place." He said and so did she but not yet so she nodded. "Good, then get ready to leave. Both of you." She said grabbing her bag and moving out, passing by Murphy and nodding as he nodded back and the boys followed her out of camp.


	37. Mountain's first strike

Mountain's first strike

"Do you really think that he can survive?" Wells asked Clarke as they walked through the forest, Finn walking a little behind them. "I do, despite what everyone seems to think. I already got the infected skin out, if I can get his fever to come down, then he will be fine and this seaweed is just what I need. You know, you should have more faith in me," she said and he laughed. "That's the same thing you said before you tried to jump from the table to the couch and got your arm broken when we were five." Wells said and she laughed.

"No one is perfect, Wells and when it was healed, I did make the jump." She said and he laughed too. As she took the lead and the boys kind of fell in step together. "You're really close, right?" Finn asked him and Clarke stayed within hearing distance. "We grew up together since we were babies. Why?" Wells answered and Finn looked at him. "Does she know about your feelings?" he asked and Clarke smiled. Last time, hearing it made her feel very uncomfortable but not this time. "Yes, and we talked. I have a girlfriend now who I like very much." Wells said shutting the conversation down.

Then Finn stepped on the automobile as he did before as she stopped to look at them crunching down and looking at it. "What is it?" she asked already knowing what it was and how badly they will need it in a couple of minutes. Finn opened the door. "It's an automobile," Wells said. "Alright, Finn. Quit looking at it. This thing is not going anywhere. Jasper can't have us wasting time. So, can we please get moving? On the way back, I will let you guys take a look at it, I promise." She said and they looked at her before she kept going and they followed her through the forest.

Back on camp, Murphy was able to get Atom to stay in camp by telling him that he needed help with something that he didn't even know what and that he would be quiet too about whatever the boy wanted to talk to Octavia. Truthfully, he invented any lie he thought might change the guy's mind about going with Bellamy's crew and it worked and he went to check on Charlotte and Jasper. He went all the way up. "How is Goggles doing?" he asked and the girl sighed. "His fever is still pretty high but he is holding up." She said.

"Do you know where my brother is?" Octavia asked and he nodded. "He and his goons went hunting. Atom is here though," He said and she smiled. "Okay, I will go check on him," She said and got down and Charlotte looked at him. "Playing matchmaker, Johnny?" she asked smiling and he shrugged. "No, I was just making a comment. It's not my fault their hormones are raging and they can't keep it in their pants," He said and she smiled as Jasper moaned again and she turned to look at him. "It's going to be okay," Charlotte said. They were there for a few moments before Octavia went back up and looked at Murphy. "Atom is not here." She said and he silently cursed. Stupid idiot.

The other three walking in the forest finally got to where Finn said the seaweed could be. "Wells, what does the seaweed look like?" she asked Wells as they came to stop by the river and he pointed in front of them. "Like that. That thing that bit Octavia, how big was it?" he asked stuttering a little and she smiled before walking towards him and smirked at him. "Very big," She said jokingly before she walked into the river and started to grab the seaweed and putting it inside her bag waiting for the bird to announce the acid fog and they soon enough passed by them.

She walked out of the river and just as the horns sounded. "Grounders?" she asked already knowing. "It could be a war cry," Wells said. "Or it could be a warning?" Finn said and Clarke looked at the yellow cloud. "Surely, it's about that. We need to leave. Now," She said and started running away from it, the boys quickly following her. They came across the automobile again and Finn opened the door and Clarke got in first, the Wells and then Finn as he closed it. "It's getting inside. Seal the openings." She said and they started doing it.

Back in camp, Murphy got out in time just as the horns sounded and he saw the yellow cloud. Acid fog. "Everyone, get inside the dropship now! Come on. Do it now!" He started screaming for people to get inside and once they saw the cloud coming their way, they followed him in. Last time, no one would have done that. Followed him, not by choice, certainly not because they trusted him to help them but now there were people looking up to him. It was all very new and weird. And once everyone was inside, he closed the door of the dropship. "Seal any opening there is. Now," He said to the rest of the hundred, the ones who were inside after they did that.

As he came to where Charlotte was, Jessica started helping him close the ones there. "You guys okay?" he asked and they nodded. "What is going on, John?" Charlotte asked. "I don't know, braids. Some kind of acid fog, people's skin started burning. Jessica, make sure to keep this sealed, okay?" he said and the girl nodded. "What about the others? My brother?" Octavia asked. "And Clarke and the boys?" Monty joined in and Murphy looked at them sighing. "They must have found somewhere to hide. I will see if there is anyone hurt down there." He said and went down to check on the others as the others continued taking care of Jasper.

He got down to the lowest level where practically everyone was and he stood in a small stoop so they could all see him. "Listen up guys," He said and they all looked at him waiting. "We don't know what the hell was that fog out there and we don't know what it can do to us so this door is not being open under any circumstance until we know for sure it is safe to go outside, we don't need more bodies to bury today. So everyone will stay inside, use a piece of clothing to help you breathe better and just stay in here quiet." He said to them and they nodded.

"What if we get hungry?" A girl named Susan asked. "The rest of the panther meat is in here. I will divide it and we will share it in groups of 5 so that we can make sure everyone gets to eat something. Everyone understand?" He asked and they nodded just as Jasper moaned loudly. "What about the kid? He has been screaming since yesterday. Can you make him stop?" A guy named Jason said and Murphy looked at him as the others waited for his answer. "Jasper is currently fighting for his life so I am sorry he is a bother to you, dumbass but you will just have to deal with it. Sing a song, stuff your ear, I don't care. You do not get near him. Got it?" Murphy said and the guy shrunk where he was.

"Anymore idiotic questions?" He asked them and everyone was quiet. "Good. Make up groups of 5 and select a leader of the group and send it up to the second level where I will give you the food for your group. Anyone who takes more than their share or who takes anyone else's will be punished. We may not be in the Ark but like Clarke and Wells said we are a team and we will work together. You got it?" He said and they nodded. "Very well. Whenever you are finished selecting, send the leaders up. Everyone stay down here and cooperate." He said and stepped down before climbing up the ladder.

Inside the automobile, Finn was looking through the window to check on the situation outside. "It's still out there." He said as he started opening the compartment. Clarke had her head resting on Wells' shoulder as they sat together against one of the walls of the car. "It's acid fog. We won't be able to get out of here until it goes away. We're done if we get in contact with that." She said as Finn was able to open it and the bottle fell on his lap again. "Is that booze?" she asked chuckling and he nodded before going to sit down near the other two. "Careful with it," She said as he opened it and drank it. "Whiskey, I think. Better than the moonshine of Agro Station." He said offering to Wells and she smiled.

"Alcohol is toxic." The boy said and Clarke smiled, typical Wells. "This is Earth, everything is toxic plus is a timeless rite of passage," Finn said to him. "We will pass," Wells said and Clarke nodded. "Thanks but no thanks. The last thing Jasper needs is for me to have a hangover," She said and he looked at her. "You sure?" he said and she nodded. "Very much so," She confirmed and he shrugged. "You guys are no fun." He said drinking and she laughed. "You go and be fun all by yourself, Finn. Just don't make us have to carry you because you can't walk straight." She said and the other two laughed.

Back in camp hours later, Murphy had Charlotte sleeping in his arms while he stood guard. After he had divided part of the meat and given to the leaders and no problems since to have occurred, he went up and closed the hatch to where they were staying, he didn't know if anyone would have the same reaction he had last year but he wasn't leaving it to chance so he did what Monty and Octavia did last time and locked it with a piece of metal when the others asked for an explanation, all he gave them was. "Better to prevent if someone shares Bellamy's views on what to do with him." Everyone stayed quiet after that, knowing it was very possible for that to happen.

Then, Monty tried to go down but Murphy stopped him. "Hey, stay here. It's not safe for Jasper to open that yet. Trust me." He said quietly not to wake up Charlotte and Monty nodded as Jasper moaned and the complaints started again. "See? That is what I mean." He said and Monty and Octavia nodded and went back to taking care of Jasper as Murphy put his hand on his bag and felt the guns there and felt a little safer and surer that he could protect everyone up here. He then kissed Charlotte's head as she snuggled further into his side and he relaxed a little and even closed his eyes.

A few hours later, to which Clarke judged was quite early in the morning, the fog finally dissipated and Clarke opened the door seeing the air clean again and got out knowing it was finally safe to do so. "The fog is gone. Come on." She said and soon, Wells followed after her and then Finn closed the door behind them and they started on their track back to camp, the boys stayed behind talking and Clarke kind of ignored them as she made her way, last time Finn came to talk to her about Wells and the death of her father but those were both subjects in the past timeline, not in this one and for that she let a small smile grace her face.

They continued walking and then there was a scream. Clarke's heart clenched, this was the same thing that happened before but the scream sounded older than Charlotte's so she was relieved that at least the young girl was safe but disturbed that someone has been a victim of the fog again. She took off running in the direction of the scream. "Guys, go check on them." She said to the boys once they saw the others all hurled up together and she saw Monroe visibly shaken so Clarke judged she was the one who found the body. The boys did as she asked and she went to where she expected Bellamy was and she found him.

She found him the same way as before and with the same victim of the fog as before too. Atom. She sighed, she had hoped between Murphy and her, they could avoid his death from happening but as Bellamy turns to look at her, she knew she couldn't have and as she got closer, she kneeled down beside the suffering boy. "I heard the screams." She said to Bellamy as she looked over Atom's body. "Monroe found him." Bellamy said and she nodded noticing the knife on his hand. She looked at Atom again as he pleaded and then back up to Bellamy and shook her head and he understood.

"Okay, I'm going to help you. Just relax." She said as she caressed the boy's head and started singing again as she did last time. She then grabbed the knife from Bellamy's hand and slowly and very sadly plunged on Atom's neck and pulled it out as she continued singing until he died and she turned to Bellamy. "Can you help me carry him? The others are waiting not far from here." She said and he nodded as she passed him the knife and he picked up the boy and she helped him drag him back to where the others were.

Everyone was shocked to say the least and they gently put him down on the ground. "What happened?" Wells asked them and she sighed. "Acid fog, I'm guessing. Do any of you have something we could use as a stretcher like the one we did for Jasper?" Clarke asked and a dark looking kid nodded pulling out a piece of parachute. "We used as cover." He said passing down to her and she nodded. "Thank you. Guys, you know what to do." She said and Wells, Finn and Bellamy started working together in silence and quickly made it and put the body on it.

"Let's go." She said to the group of them and they started on their way back to camp, everyone was in silence. What was there to say? One of them died because of an acid fog. Clarke had really hoped she could have saved him but she doesn't have the power to control everyone's decision. She can do her best to help them choose the right one but other than that, the reigns of their lives are in their hands and so was Atom's and unfortunately for him and for her as well, he didn't make the wisest decision and now he is dead. She really hoped that she was doing good.

It didn't take them long to get back to camp but when they did it was already dark and Clarke was at least a little glad to see that the wall surrounding them was looking better than before she left though not by much, she imagined they had to stop because of the fog as well. The gates were opened and she went in Finn beside her and she turned to him. "I'll need boiled water and fast. Jasper can't wait much longer." She said and he nodded moving away as she went to the dropship door and saw Octavia there as well as Murphy, Charlotte and Maggie.

"Finally, I thought they were going to kill Jasper if it wasn't for Murphy." Octavia said and Clarke smiled sadly at her. "Octavia, something happened." She said and the girl looked at her confusedly before Clarke turned and she got a look of Bellamy and a stretcher behind him and she instantly moved there as Clarke's friend moved to her side and Charlotte hugged her on one side and Murphy on the other and he mouthed to her that he was sorry and she shook her head mouthing back that it wasn't his fault just as Octavia removed the jacket and everyone gasped at seeing Atom's body.

"How?" Jessica asked once Wells came to their side and hugged her. "Acid fog." He said and they nodded. "There was nothing I could do." Bellamy tried saying but Octavia raised her hand to stop him. "Don't." She said and covered him again with the jacket and moved past her brother who tried to stop her, pleading with her but she just shrugged him off and walked inside the dropship and Clarke sighed. "Charlie, can you help Finn with the boiled water?" she asked and the little girl nodded going to where the boy was.

"Murphy, Jessica and Wells, can you dig a grave for him, please?" she asked and they nodded. "Of course, you don't even have to ask." Wells said sadly kissing her forehead as he held Jessica's hand as Clarke smiled before she moved inside the dropship and to where Jasper was still laying down and feverish. It didn't take long for the boiled water to come and for her to make the tea.

She immediately started giving it to Jasper as Charlotte helped her. She looked at Octavia holding his head on her lap. "I'm really sorry about Atom." She said and the girl swallowed down. "I guess we are going to have to get used to people dying down here, aren't we?" she said and Clarke sighed putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "We are but that doesn't mean it gets easier." She said and gave a small squeeze.

"But not you. You hear me? You are not allowed to die." She said to the boy and everyone looked at her. "Everyone can take a rest, it will take at least an hour for it to work." She said and moved away and so did the others. Charlotte came with her and they lay down as Clarke saw Finn pull out the bottle of whiskey from his bag. "What is that?" the girl asked and Clarke smiled. "Nothing for you to drink, not in a couple of years at least." She said and the girl smiled. "I don't like alcohol anyway." Charlotte said and Clarke smiled as she snuggled against her. "Smart girl." She said and fell asleep after the tiring day they had.

She was woken up a while later by the sound of their voices but most specifically Jasper's. "Was it a dream or did I get speared?" he asked and she got up and went to his side. "You'll have a very impressive scar to prove it." She said kneeling beside him as Charlotte came to his side as well. "My saviors." He said smiling at them. "Thank you for not dying. I don't think any of us could have taken that today." She said. "Well, I'll try not to die tomorrow too if that's cool." He said and everyone laughed and soon he fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	38. Ten-Nine-Eight-Seven

Ten, nine, eight

A week later, Clarke found herself once again standing in front of the graves and as she looked at it, she couldn't help but be glad that there was only two where once before there were four and one of them was Wells'. He didn't die. Charlotte didn't kill him trying to slay her demons, which was his father, Jaha. Wells was still alive and relaxed, almost happy, in the present moment playing with Charlotte herself as they both were taking a break from work and Clarke couldn't help but feel that she was accomplish things. She couldn't stop everything from happening but she could make it as good as she can and looking at the graves and their numbers, she started feeling like she was doing just that.

She heard steps coming up from behind her and knew it was Finn, not just because she remembered he came out here and talked to her but because unlike her and Murphy who with the help of muscle memory, can walk in the woods without making much noise unless on purpose, Finn was sloppy, breaking every branch along the way. Still, she humored him and turned without her knife this time. After she got back to camp, she got her gun and her knives back from Murphy. Luckily, she hasn't had to use them yet, neither did he. "Shouldn't be out here alone. What if I was a grounder?" he said and she chuckled.

"I guess, I would be dead," She said and he sighed. "I am serious, Clarke. It's dangerous." He said and she looked at him. "Everything is dangerous, Finn. Being alive is dangerous. Thanks for the concern but I can take care of myself." She said sarcastically and he shook his head. "I'm the reckless and you're the responsible one, not the other way around, right?" He said and she chuckled. "I got something for you." He said and she froze as he gave her the pencil. And as she looked at it, she remembered where it came from and what that place had meant for them. "I got it in the art supply store." He said and she smiled as best as she could.

"Thanks but I have to get back to work. Need to check if Monty was able to make contact with the Ark yet," She said as she moved past him and he followed. "I'll go with you." He said and she sighed. They went behind the wall and straight inside the dropship where Monty was working with a number of wires. "Hey, Monty. Anything yet?" she asked and he turned to her. "No, if I could work on the bracelets, it could." He said looking at her and she smiled at him and she thought about saying no but then she remembered something.

Her mother thinking she was dead was what fueled her to get Raven to come down today so she knew what she had to do. "Are you sure you could talk to them with a wristband?" she asked him and he looked at her and nodded. "Pretty sure. Why?" he asked hopeful and she moved to seat in front of him and extended her arm to him. "You can take mine." She said surprising both of them. "Clarke." Finn said and she looked at him. "It's just one, Finn. As long as everyone else keeps theirs, we will be fine and if Monty can speak with the Ark today, we will all be able to take them off by tomorrow." She said and looked at the other boy.

"Do it." She said and he nodded as he grabbed a few tools and very carefully started removing it and he did it. "Yes, it's still operational," He said and she nodded rubbing her wrist and standing up and walking towards Finn who was looking at her. "Relax, Finn. I know what I am doing." She said and he sighed. "What about your parents?" he said and she sighed. "My parents thinking I'm dead will be temporarily, right Monty?" She said and Monty was looking at the wires in front of him. "Yep, as soon as I can patch through the dropship's mainframe," He said before turning to them. "I can do it. We will be talking to the Ark by nightfall." He said and went back to work. "Good, now I just need to explain to everyone else." She said to the boys before walking out.

Meanwhile in the Ark, in the control room, Abby was sleeping on a table, Kane was working on another table looking at some numbers and Jake was talking to Sinclair about some engineering stuff when the beeping started and everyone knew what that meant as they turned to the screen and Abby woke up in time to see Clarke's screen go dark. "No!" she said loudly as Jake came to her side in front of the screen as they looked at the transmission terminated on her and Abby continued to deny what everyone thought had happened.

The both of them felt the tears but Jake tried to be the strong one for his wife hugging her. "No, this isn't right." Abby said pulling away from him and going towards the computers. He followed her. "Abby." He said as she continued typing away before he reached for her hand and stopped her. "Abby, look at me." he said and she looked up to him. "She is not dead. I don't care what that screen is saying. Clarke is not dead, okay? Trust me," he said to her and she nodded. "Jake is right, Abby." Kane said coming closer as they looked at him.

"Clarke is a smart girl, maybe she had the idea to use the wristband to talk to us as we did to talk to them and that is why it came off all of a sudden," He didn't really know if that was the case because he wasn't sure himself what happened but since he was still here, he could only assume she was okay and that was the most plausible explanation he could come up with. "Kane is right. She must have had an idea on how to use them and took hers off which is why is the first terminated signal in a week." Jake said and Kane nodded agreeing with him.

"You may be right but we need to get in touch with them fast. I need to know she is okay, I cannot lose my baby girl, Jake. We can't lose her." She said to her husband and he nodded. "I'll go check on Raven", He said and she nodded at him. "I will go with you." She said and they both walked out of the control room in the direction of where Raven was working on the pod. "Jackson, get a report on Clarke's vital signs from the last two days," Kane said as the doctor nodded and he turned to the screen. "What happened, Clarke? What happened?" he asked as he crossed his arms watching her dark screen.

Back in the camp, Clarke walked out of the dropship and everyone was working around on the wall and in other section. It was looking way better than she imagined, the wall was almost finished and they were already creating the same environment as last time and she steeled herself for this talk before she said loudly. "Everyone, stop for a minute," She said and everyone did it and turned to her. "Thank you. Monty believes he can use the wristband to reestablish contact with the Ark through the mainframe of the dropship so only for that reason, I gave him mine," She said and everyone started whispering and she could see Bellamy smirking. "Silence." She said and everyone quieted down.

"I did it as a way to contact the Ark and Monty assured us that he will be able to get us talking to them tonight. But this doesn't mean that you can take your off because it might not work and if it doesn't, your bracelets are going to keep them alive up there so mine will be the last one removed. However, if we get in touch with the Ark, then we will have a bracelet off party down here, okay?" she said smiling and everyone cheered at that and she chuckled before ushering them quiet again. "Okay but for now, keep yours exactly where they are and get back to work." She said and they nodded at her and she looked at Bellamy's frown.

"Nice speech." Finn said from her side and she turned to look at him. "Thanks and you need to go help them over there." She said pointing at a group and walked away from him, she needed to talk to Murphy and went in his direction and when she got close, she came to stand beside him as they looked at everyone else. "Why did you do that?" he asked lowly not understanding why she took hers off. "It's the incentive my parents will need to get Raven to come down." She said and he nodded. "It's tonight, isn't it?" he asked and she nodded. "Yes but first, I need you to do two things for me," she said and he nodded.

"First, I need you to sabotage whatever Monty is planning. He will not be able to do what he thinks and will actually fry all the wristbands and I don't want to risk that this time." She said in his ear and he turned to look at her. "Then why did you do it?" he asked and she sighed. "Just to get the ball rolling up there but between the bracelets and Raven's arrival, there are a few hours in the middle of those events and I don't want anything to go wrong." She said and he took a deep breath. "Okay, I get it and the other?" he asked her. "When Raven's pod comes down, I need you to delay Bellamy from going after it as much as you can." she sighed looking at the boy in question.

"I figured and I already have a plan for that, don't worry," He said and they saw Connor drop down and Clarke looked at her friend. "Don't do anything stupid." She said and he smirked at her. "I wouldn't dream of it, blondie." He moved forward until he came to where the boy was. "What is it?" he asked the boy on the floor who looked up to him. "I need water." He said and Murphy sighed. "Then go, drink something and get back to work. The wall is not going to build itself, you know?" He said, looked at Charlotte who was tying something, smiled at her and was about to grab the end of the log to help the boy when he was pushed by him.

"And who are you to give me orders?" he said as everyone stopped to look at them. "I was trying to help you, dumbass." Murphy said pushing him back. Clarke saw that Murphy was going to help the guy so she was angry at Connor for pushing her friend and when she saw him try to move against Murphy one more time, she stepped in the middle just before he could get closer and the look she gave him was able to make him stop in his tracks and think twice before moving any further. "You really don't want to do this, do you Connor?" she asked him scarily and Connor just looked at her.

"My friend here was trying to help you and instead of thanking him like you should have, you try to hurt him. That is not right, is it?" she said to the boy moving towards him as he stepped back. "When someone helps you, it's polite to say thank you and when you hurt them, it's polite to say I am sorry. Now, what do you say to my friend?" she said as continued walking forward and him backwards. "Thank you and I am sorry." He said looking at her. "Don't say looking at me. Say looking at him." She said and he looked at Murphy. "Thank you and I am sorry." He said and just as he was about to fall down on the water, Clarke grabbed him by the collar and stopped it.

She reached behind him, grabbed a cup and filled with water before giving it to him. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?" she said and he shook his head drinking the water before she smiled and turned around to look at Murphy who was smirking and walked towards him and when she got close, she slapped him in the head. "And you dumbass, try a little love, tender and care. It works a lot better." She said and punched him in the shoulder as he started laughing hard and she smiled before she turned to the rest.

"Now everyone, get back to work and I mean everyone. And I better not hear of pointless arguments like this again or someone will be in serious trouble. He is a jackass 99% of the time but Murphy is right. The wall is not going to build itself so get on with it for Christ's sake." She said and everyone smiled and continued on their work and she turned to Charlotte. "Can you please babysit him?" she said to the girl who smiled. "Isn't what I always do anyway?" she said and he scoffed being near them. "I will get my revenge on the two of you one of these days." He said to the girls and they laughed.

"You couldn't do that even if you tried which we all know you won't. You love us to much for that. Am I right or am I right, Charlie?" Clarke said and the girl nodded. "You are absolutely right, Clarke. Johnny here is just a grumpy little teddy bear when it comes to us," she said and he scoffed before splashing some water towards them as the two blonde girls just smiled and laughed at him. "You both are just a huge pain in my ass, you know that? Oh and I hate you both. Especially you blondie. Braids, you're catching up quickly." He said and it just made them laugh harder before something caught Clarke's eye.

Clarke looked to the side and noticed Octavia with Jasper and how she was walking him towards a small passage way at the wall, she was talking to him and holding his hand pulling him forward and as she looked at him Clarke could see it perfectly clear that he seemed to be scared and of course he was, he was still recovery from being speared, he shouldn't be getting out there at all. She excused herself and went towards them. Maybe she could do something to help with that.


	39. Six-Five-Four

Six, five, four

Abby and Jake walked through the Ark holding each other's hand praying that their daughter was okay. Like Jake said, she had to be. They couldn't have lost her, their baby girl. Clarke was one of the strongest people they knew, she had to be okay. There was no other choice. So with that in mind, they quickly went to Mecha Station and to where Raven was working on the pod. "How fast can you get this thing ready to drop?" Abby said as soon as they got inside the room and Raven continued working before looking at them. "Well, I am still trying to scrap parts to fabricate a pressure regulator, the one you gave me didn't work and the other was a bad one. We had two more days, right?" she said to them and they looked at each other.

"Can we launch without that part?" Abby asked them and Jake shook his head. "No, we can't Abby. Without it, Raven dies before she even gets to the ground." He said to her sighing and Raven nodded before continuing her work. "And we don't want that to happen to beautiful and genius Raven." The girl said trying to make a joke and the man gave her a small smile for the try. "Has something changed?" she asked them and he sighed nodding. "Clarke's wristband signal went out," Abby answered and Raven pulled back from what she was working and looked at them. "That doesn't mean anything, right? She took it off like the rest of them." She said trying to convince herself her friend was okay.

"That is what we are hoping for but we need you to get to the ground fast. I will help you, maybe between the two of us we can build the regulator and you can go down today." Jake said and was about to take his jacket off to start helping her when there was a sound on the speakers and they paid attention to it. "Engineer Jake Griffin, you're needed in Agro Station immediately. Engineer Jake Griffin, you're needed in Agro Station immediately." He sighed shaking his head and Raven looked at them. "I need to go. Raven, see what you can do." He said giving Abby a kiss and went out of the room running.

Abby turned to the girl and by the look on her face Raven knew it was bad, really bad so she nodded at her with a determinate loon on her face. "Okay, I can get a pressure regulator. Today." Raven said grabbing her jacket from where it was inside the pod and moving towards Abby and the exit. "How?" the woman asked her and she took a deep breath before shaking her head at the older woman. "The less you know, the better." She said and moved past her and out of the place as Abby looked at the pod and her thoughts went to her daughter.

Back in camp, Clarke followed Octavia and Jasper out and she saw that the girl was trying to get to him to overcome his fear as she did before and she remembered that that was how they found Wells' fingers and Murphy's knife around here somewhere. "Octavia. Don't." She called out. "What? I'm trying to help him." The girl said to her and Clarke nodded. "I know but not like this," She said and came to Jasper's side and hugged him. "You don't have to be out here if you don't feel ready for it. What you went through would make anyone scared and fear is not a weakness." She said softly to him as Octavia joined them.

"Shouldn't he be trying to overcome it?" the younger Blake asked and Clarke shook her head. "Not now, there is no time limit for him to recover. He will do it on his own way and only when he is ready for it. Neither we nor he can force himself before that." She said to the girl and looked at him. "No one is going to judge you for being afraid. Everyone is," She said and he looked at her with tears on his eyes. "You're not," He said and she chuckled. "Oh, Jasper. No one is as scared as am I, not even you. I am pissing my pants every second we're here. I am terrified about every single thing you could possibly think off." She said and he chuckled at her.

"I am super scared. I am terrified and if I could, I would stay inside the dropship and probably never come out with how scared I am. Everyone inside is also scared, Octavia is scared," She said looking at the girl who nodded. "Shitting my pants," She said to him following Clarke's lead before Jasper looked back at Clarke. "But if you haven't noticed, those people inside are a bunch of idiots who need me to help them and I have a very bad record of always helping people without thinking and believe me, it doesn't always work out well for me but it's genetic, you see my father is the same. So despite my fear, I put on a brave face because I have to for them but you don't have to do it." She said to him.

"You don't have to worry about anyone but yourself right now and when you're ready, when you feel you're ready to face your fears and proudly walk out here then Monty, Octavia and I will be right here, ready to face your fears with you. Okay? You are not alone in this but you are also not ready for this, not yet and it is absolutely okay, you hear me? You call the shots, this is your show," she said and he nodded and hugged her and she hugged him back.

"You're one of the best of us, Jas. Don't forget that. Like ever or I will have to use my amazing powers with you just like I do with Murphy every time I have to remind him of the simple and unquestionable fact that he cannot survive without me looking after his sorry ass all the time. I will do it with you too." She said as a tear fell down on her face as she laughed and he nodded against her shoulder laughing as well before pulling back and looking at her with a grateful smile on his face.

"You know, we're really lucky you came down here with us and is always helping people even without thinking. I don't know what would have happened to me if you didn't save me and what would happen to everyone if you weren't here to lead them. Thank you," He said and she smiled. "You don't have to thank me for saving you and as for leading them, well, someone has to do it." She said shrugging and he smiled. "Now, why don't you go inside and see if Murphy is behaving himself and relieve Charlotte of babysitting duty? I swear he is like a child, I leave him alone for one second and he is already in some kind of trouble." She said and he smiled at her.

"Okay. I will see you inside?" he turned to look at Octavia and she nodded smiling at him and they watched as he walked in visibly relaxing. "I thought it would be good for him to come out." Octavia said to her and she sighed before turning to the younger Blake. "I know and it will be but only when he feels like that. But it was a very nice gesture." She said and the girl nodded before Clarke moved to go inside again and Octavia followed her. "He was right you know? We really are lucky to have you." She said and moved past Clarke as the blonde sighed. "I hope you always feel that way." She said before going in.

The day went on pretty quiet despite the initial misunderstanding between Murphy and Connor that Clarke took care of before it escalated. Jasper went inside and started working with Charlotte on tying things up and from where Clarke was looking the two of them were having fun, they were both laughing and joking around. Wells was working with Jessica on the wall as was Bellamy. Finn was on the roof helping Monty to communicate with the Ark, she believed. She was so absorbed that she didn't see someone coming to her side until she felt his arm around her shoulder and immediately she knew who it was.

"Is it just me or is it weird for you too how this day is going compared to last time?" Murphy said and she sighed before hugging his waist. "Extremely weird especially the part where you don't get hang up for a crime you didn't commit thanks to me, Charlotte, Connor and Bellamy." She said looking up at him and he chuckled at her. Luckily for them, there was no one anywhere near them so they could speak freely but still with caution. "Thanks for before. I really think I was about to lose on the guy. I never did like him." He said and she smiled.

"Yeah and we both know how you repaid him his kindness." She said sarcastically and he nodded grimacing slightly. "I was angry for how everyone treated me and after what I suffered in his hand, I wasn't looking past that. I had a lot of anger issues before, you know?" he said and she looked at him as he continued looking forward, ignoring her stare. "My Dad was everything to me. My Mom was always sad but he was there to play with me, cheer me up whenever she said bad things to me or did bad things to me." He confessed and she let him speak without interruption.

"When she died the way she did, I just lost it. I felt so alone and so worthless that I did what I did and got myself arrested, I didn't care and no one else cared too." He said and seemed lost in his thought before he continued, "Anyway, so down here, I just continued to be the idiot and jackass and I paid for it, with time and with help, I begin to be better, I guess. But then we didn't have time anymore and I was back in that situation again and I was about to do the same decisions until you knocked on the door and offered to be my friend and practically forced me to be friends with Wells, Raven and Charlotte." He said and turned his head slightly to look down at her.

"You have no idea what that meant for me and I am not one for feelings, you know that. I much prefer the Murphy style in dealing with this but just this once, I want you to know that I am very glad we got to be friends and that I will always be grateful to you for how you changed my life even when I didn't realize just how much. So thank you, Clarke. From the bottom of my rotten heart, thank you. You saved me." He said sincerely and she hugged him crying on his chest and he hugged her tightly. "I love you too, John." She mumbled and he smiled as he felt someone staring at them and it was Finn.

"Clarke, you know that Finn has fallen in love with you again, don't you?" he said lowly and she pulled back looking at him while she dried her face of her tears. "Why do you say that?" she asked and he smirked. "Don't look now but he is looking at us and at me like he wants to burn me alive." He said and she sighed. "Yeah, I've noticed. I have tried to distance us from that direction as best as I could. I only treated him as a friend but it seems that I can't stop that from happening but nothing more will happen." She said and he nodded as they continued talking and working ignoring the boy as the afternoon was passing and the sky darkening.

Back in the Ark, Abby was looking over some patient when Raven came to her and started coughing. She left her patient and pretended to examine the girl and ushered her inside. "I will be right back." She said to the man and followed her in. "All those people?" Raven asked her and Abby sighed. "Oxygen deprivation. It's just the beginning." She said to the girl. "Where is Jake?" the mechanic asked her. "Still working. Why are you here?" Abby answered and asked her and Raven sighed. "I messed up. I can't get the part. Nigel wants me…" she said but Abby interrupted her.

"You went to Nigel?" she asked her and Raven sighed nodding her head. "Yeah." She confirmed grimacing. "Kane has been trying to get her for years. Did anybody see you?" Abby asked her and the girl shook her head. "I don't know. No, Abby. I am trying to tell you, we can't launch today." Raven said. "Are you sure Nigel has the part?" Abby asked her sighing and Raven nodded. "Yeah, if she can get one." She said and the older woman nodded. "Okay then, I will take care of it." She said and walked past the young mechanic. "What are you going to do?" Raven asked and Abby looked at her.

"The less you know, the better." She said and walked out and passed by Kane in one of the halls. "Kane." She said to him and he nodded at her. "Abby." He said and watched as she continued walked and he smiled. If he knew well what was happening, she was going to talk to Nigel for the regulator. Good, that means that his plan has worked. He was the one who sabotaged the regulator Jake had given Raven as Clarke requested. Raven could only drop the same time as in the other timeline so now all he has to do is wait for the ball to be back on his hands and he can finish his part in regards to this matter. It was becoming a good day for him.


	40. Three-Two-One- Launch

Three, two, one: Launch

When Nigel asked to see him, he already knew that she had given a bad part to Abby, after all he had secured the good and working regulator months ago, almost as soon as he was woken up by Clarke just for this moment. He walked in and saw his mother talking about their ancestors and the small tree and when she looked at him she smiled, he gave her another one in return and watched her for a while before he reminded himself on why he was here and went to the woman who was waiting for him. The guy she was with left immediately.

"Your mother is inspired today, Marcus. I remember when you were the tender of the tree. You were a cute kid." She said as he sat down in front of her, looked at the boy with his mother and turned to her again. "Watch your tone and your words while talking about my mother, Nigel." He said firmly and she looked at him. "Why did you bring me down here? What do you want?" he asked although he already knew very well what she wanted with him. Too bad for her, he was not the same person he once was.

"It's about what you want. I have something for you." She said smirking at him thinking she got the upper hand. "Unless it's a signed confession, I am not interested." He said to her playing her game. "Not even if it involves your friend Abby Griffin?" she asked and he stared at her. "What about Abby?" he asked her. "She and a girl named Raven Reyes asked me to get them a pressure regulator. As a lowly culinary tech, I didn't feel like I had the choice when one of your fellow councilors asked me to help her break the law." She said smirking and he stood up.

"There is only one problem, Nigel." He said to her and she looked at him. "What?" she asked him and he smirked. "The Chancellor approved of what they are doing which means Abby and Raven didn't break the law but you did." He said and her face changed as he said that and as she saw the guards coming her way. "I got you as I always said I would, Nigel." He said smirking at her and walked away as he heard the guards arresting her and he moved towards his quarters and once he got in, he grabbed the bag with the regulator and went on his way to Mecha Station, it was time.

Meanwhile on the ground, it was dark already and everyone was around the fire, eating and enjoying the night after a hard day at work and Clarke was resting against the metal of the dropship with her eyes closed but with her other senses on high alert and they started beeping which allowed her to know that someone was coming towards her. "Tired?" she heard Finn's voice and opened her eyes to look at him. "Yes, a little." She said and he sat down by her side, a little too close to her liking, she thought as she looked at everything they had built already.

Last time, Clarke had not helped much with building the wall even because she had spent most part of this day helping Charlotte run away from Murphy along with Finn but this time around she made sure to contribute with her work as well. She helped wherever she could and in any way she was needed. Mostly she worked along with Charlotte helping the girl with what she couldn't do as well as playing around. Every once in a while, someone would come to her to ask for her help with something an injury or they would simply ask for advice and she would do it gladly, happy that things were going well.

Even Bellamy came to ask her for help during the day. She had been working on the wall when he came to her side and coughed, catching her attention, she stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him. "Yes?" She asked him and he looked at her. "I was thinking that we should make a better schedule for the patrols." He said and she turned to face him fully. "Why you say that? Isn't the one made working?" She asked curious and he shook his head. "The southern wall had no one there because Drew and Matt didn't know whose turn it was so none of them went. I think just letting them know by themselves can get them to forget." He said and she nodded at him.

"You're right. And with the grounders out there, we can't leave anywhere without at least someone watching." She said agreeing with him and he nodded his head. "So I was wondering if you could maybe come up with a better schedule so that this will not happen again. Is there somewhere you can write it down maybe? I don't know." He said and she seemed to think for a few seconds before she looked back at him. "Can you gather everyone? I had an idea." She said and he nodded before he moved calling out for everyone to stop what they were doing and to gather around. Even those who were in the dropship and in patrol had to come and join them. Clarke got a stoop and stood up on it as all eyes were upon her.

"Listen up. Bellamy has told me that there has been confusion with the schedules and, because of that, I had an idea to solve that problem so I need you to listen to me carefully. When I say your name, I want the people I called out to gather in a group. I will assign each group with a leader and they will be responsible for the rest of their team, okay?" She said and they nodded. "Alright. Let's begin with Blue Team, the leader will be Bellamy and the rest will be Mbege, Drew, Monroe…" She started calling out and like she instructed everyone gathered in a group with their leaders so when they were all divided and with their group, she spoke up.

"Okay then. Blue, Green and Red Team, you are responsible for patrol. Red team takes the morning, Green team takes the afternoon and Blue team takes the night shift. Understood?" She called to them and they nodded. "Purple and Black team, you have the wall construction. Purple got the morning and Black got the afternoon shift." She said and they nodded understanding. "Silver team, you're responsible for the weapons." She said and Murphy, the leader of the group smirked at her. "Yellow team, you're responsible for the food stock and the rations." She looked at the group and they smiled.

"And finally, Gold team is made by me, Murphy, Wells and Bellamy and we will be in charge of the camp. Any problems, you can come to us and we will find a solution for it." She looked at the boys before continuing, "Anyone has any problem with it?" She asked and looked around waiting for someone to call out by they didn't so she sighed relived and nodded. "Very well. Since we are already nearing nightfall, the schedule will start fully from tomorrow morning and forward which means that Red and Purple teams, you get to rest since you will start early tomorrow. The rest can continue working." She said and they nodded organizing themselves following her instructions and that was how the rest of the day went on.

Clarke was brought back to the present moment with Finn seating beside her and looking at her. "And you? Tired?" she asked readjusting herself a little away from him. "I'm fine." He said shrugging and she looked to the side just in time to see Murphy come out of the dropship and as he looked at her, he nodded his head and she knew that he had done what she asked and made sure that whatever Monty was planning on doing wasn't going to fry the wristbands and then he continued walking and went to join the others. "Can I ask you a question?" Finn said to her and she looked at him and nodded. "Are you and Murphy together? Is he your boyfriend?" he asked her and she looked at him, he was indeed jealous. It made her wonder what he would feel once Lexa was back in her life.

"No, he is not my boyfriend and we are not together. He is like my brother. Why?" she asked him and he shrugged. "I saw you two hugging and all today, it just gave me that impression." He said and she nodded, John had noticed it as well. "Yes, I hug him quite often actually as I do with my closest friends." She said to him and he nodded. "Good." He said and she looked at him. "What do you mean good?" she said and he turned to look at her and he kissed her on the lips. She was in shock for like a second before she pushed him off. "Are you out of your mind?" she said to him and he looked at her.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." He said surprised at his own action and she shook her head. "Have you forgotten about Raven? Your girlfriend? My best friend?" she said to him angrily and he hung his head low before he turned to her. "I haven't but I have to be honest with myself and with what I feel, what I feel for you." He said to her and she shook her head. "Finn, I don't like you like that, okay? Nothing is ever going to happen between us even if Raven was not in the picture. Can you understand that?" she said firmly and he looked at her.

"But I thought that all this time…" he said to her and she interrupted him, "I was being your friend, I wasn't flirting with you. I would never have done that to my friend and you shouldn't do it either to her if you loved her even just a little. She doesn't deserve this from you and I guess we better stay away from each other until those feelings go away." She said and stood up and so did he as he held her wrist. "They are not going away. Believe me, I tried." He said gently and she looked at him. "Try harder." She got rid of his grip and made her way out of there and to where her friends were.

"Clarke." Wells called for her as she sat down and she lifted her head and all their eyes were on her and she sighed. "I take that you saw that." She said to them and the four of them nodded. "I just can't believe he would confess to me and try to get with me with his girlfriend up there, as well as completely ignoring that fact that she is my best friend." She said angrily and sighed. "Clarke, you can't exactly control who you fall in love with." Wells said to her, always the peacemaker. "And he seems to have fallen in love with you." Jessica said agreeing with her boyfriend and Clarke nodded.

"I know that we don't control who we love but we do control if we act on it or not and given the situation he should have known not to act on it. I don't care if he is in love with me, he can't just go around Raven's back simply because she is not here." She said to them and they nodded agreeing with her. "What are you going to do when we see her again?" Charlotte asked and she looked at her. "I will tell her personally of what happened. I don't want her hearing from anyone else first, not even him." She said and the little girl smiled. "That is the right thing to do." She said and they nodded. She grabbed something to eat and they started talking about different things.

Until a little later when Clarke looked at her father's watch and noticed that it was time for her to leave if she wanted to make the trip to where Raven's pod will land. They were in their tents, the girls sleeping and very carefully, Clarke got out of her sleeping bag and grabbed her bag and walked out of it and went straight to the boys and carefully lifted the flap and went inside and woke up Murphy, he grabbed a shirt and his jacket, put them on and went outside making sure not to wake up Wells.

"It's time. Soon enough, she will be coming and I need to go and wait for her to make sure we don't lose that radio again." She said and he nodded yawning. "Okay, I will check on Monty and make sure to help with Bellamy." He said as they looked at the said boy entering his tent with two girls. "Jackass." Murphy said and she smiled. "Finn is inside, make sure he doesn't try to follow me." She said and he nodded and they hugged. "Good luck, blondie." He said in her ear and she smiled. "Good luck to you too, dumbass." She said pulling back and started moving out of the camp avoiding the ones patrolling and he watched as she squeezed herself between the wall and disappeared into the night and he looked at the dropship. "Showtime." He said and walked inside.

Back in the Ark, Raven was fixing the pod and Abby was pacing around her. "Abby, how about I pace around in the operating room when you're working?" the girl said just when the doctor got a call from Jackson. "Abby, did you take morphine from the clinic?" he asked and she looked at Raven. "They inventoried already?" she asked and he shook his head. "No, but Kane came here to give it back. Nigel was arrested and floated just now." He said before Abby disconnected the call. "You gave Nigel morphine?" Raven asked her.

"She turned me in." Abby said as she came in front of Raven. "But she got floated and Kane gave it back though." Raven said and Abby shook her head. "I don't know what is going on. How much longer?" she asked mentioning the pod. "20 minutes." Raven said and Abby nodded. "I will sort this mess out and if you finished, then launch." She said and the girl nodded and Abby walked out of the place and Raven went back to work when suddenly the door's opened again and she looked up to see Kane getting in and locking the door behind him.

"Hey, Kane. Abby is not here." She said to him as he came to her and smiled. "I know, I am here for you, Raven." He said and pulled out from inside his bag a pressure regulator and gave it to her. "The one Nigel gave you is a defective one. Use this." He said and she looked at him as he ushered her to fix the problem. "How do you know?" she asked as she started working noticing that indeed it was defective and he smiled. "I didn't. This was Clarke's instructions. I'm sorry for all the other regulators, I needed to make sure that you launched when it was time." He said and she looked at him.

"You damaged them?" she asked and he nodded. "I did and when you get to the ground, you will understand why and if you can't trust me, just please trust Clarke, she is behind this and she will explain everything to you but you have to hurry, Raven." He said as she looked at him and nodded continuing to work and he smiled. It was all working out, now the ball was in Clarke's hand. He watched as Raven worked on it like a maniac for 30 minutes until she finished. "It's ready." She said and he smiled. "Put the suit on and get ready to go to Earth." He said and she nodded as he turned around to give her some privacy.

A couple of minutes later and when she was ready, he came to her. "Raven, I need you to listen to me. Tell Clarke that her parents are okay, so am I. Jaha was shot but he is fine and will continue that way and that I will not let Abby or Jake come near the Exodus ship and that she needs to be careful with the grounders and the Mountain Men." He said and she looked confused. "What the hell are you talking about Kane? Are you crazy?" she asked and he shook his head. "Doesn't matter and no I'm not. Did you memorize it?" he asked and she nodded.

"Good, don't forget to tell her. Now, go." He said and she nodded putting on the helmet and getting inside. He grabbed his bag and walked out of the room, closing the door and he waited for it and suddenly the noise and the shaking of the Ark came and he knew she launched. He was finished with this part of his mission, all there was left now was for Clarke to find Raven and contact them. He turned around and walked away from the place.


	41. Catching a bird 20

Catching a bird part 2

Clarke was sitting by a tree near where Raven's crash site would be, obviously she was far enough that she wouldn't get hurt from the blast of her landing down but also close enough that she could get to her very quickly as she knew the girl would be hurt and wouldn't be able to make the contact with the Ark. Getting there was easy. She had her gun and knives and she knew where to go so it only took her about 1 hour and 20 minutes tops of walking where before it took her and Finn about 4 hours.

She was sitting down clutching the necklace as she looked at the letter L and sighed. If she spent hours talking, she wouldn't be able to express just how much she missed Lexa, she never thought you could miss and love someone this much but she did. Having to take care of everyone while also making sure to change enough of what is happening to make things better is enough to keep her going during the day but when night comes and she slows down and let her mind think, she is always drawn to the green eyed girl who stole her heart.

But now, her mind also brought her back to the kiss Finn stole from her. She loved him and she always would, he was someone special to her but she had hoped that this time around there would be no romantic feelings involved and from her side, she was able to do it after all she is irrevocably in love with someone else so it was easy but unfortunately, he seems to have fallen for her anyway and wanted them to have something despite of Raven. She loved him but she had to admit he was a jerk. How could he do that to his girlfriend? Her mind wouldn't shut down a little which was good as she looked up to the sky.

Meanwhile back in camp, during sometime when Monty had left his things the dropship, Murphy had gone inside and sabotaged what he was doing which was when Clarke was talking to Finn. After she left, he went to check on the boy who told him that everything was wrong and that he wouldn't be able to make contact with the Ark that night. Inside, Murphy was glad but he appeared to be very bummed about it and advised the boy to leave it how it was and get some sleep after all it would be better if he took a look at it while his mind was working on a few hours of sleep. Monty nodded at him and did just that and Murphy left the dropship feeling very good about himself.

Suddenly, he was stopped by Finn grabbing his arm. "Where is Clarke?" he asked him and Murphy looked at the boy shrugging off his hands and crossing his arms against his chest. "Why are you asking me that?" he asked the boy. "Because I went to find her in her tent but she wasn't there, she isn't on camp either and because I think you know where she is." He said worriedly and Murphy nodded. "You're right, she is not here and I know where she is." Murphy said. "Then tell me." Finn pleaded with him and Murphy sighed. "She went out for a walk." He said simply.

"Now?" Finn asked and he shook his head. "No, a couple hours ago." Murphy said to him. "And you know where she went?" Finn asked and Murphy nodded again, "Please, tell me, it could be dangerous with the grounders out there. It's not safe and I need to talk to her." Finn said and Murphy shook his head. "No, I will not tell you because first, Clarke is very much safe, I guarantee you that and second, because she asked me not to tell anyone. The little stunt you pulled earlier of kissing her, she really didn't like and went to walk to clear her head besides she doesn't want anyone following her, least of all you. So relax and stay here, she said she would be back very soon and I believe her and if she is not back when she told me so, I will go after her myself." He said to the boy.

"Now, another thing. You may not care about Raven or Clarke, at least not enough not to hurt them and try to put them against each other because of you but I do. I care about both of them, they are my friends, my family and I really didn't like what you did so I will be saying this once and just once. I will not let you hurt them anymore so leave Clarke alone. She doesn't need you messing with her relationship with Raven and Raven doesn't deserve what you want to do to her, asshole." Murphy said before continuing. He couldn't let Finn leave camp, he couldn't find Clarke before she triggered Raven.

"Don't go after Clarke, she doesn't want to see your face right now, and if you have just a little bit of honor and if you truly care about her like you say you do, then you will respect that and stay here and let her come to you when she is ready to talk." Murphy said to Finn who listened. He was about to continue his speech to the guy when they heard noises and looked up to the sky and saw it and Murphy smiled. Raven was finally coming down and Bellamy won't have a chance to screw this up for them just to save his own ass.

"Hey, all. Check this out." Someone called out pointing at the sky. "Bellamy, come out here." Octavia said and everyone came out to look at it and so did Bellamy, shirtless and with the two girls he went inside his tent with, which made Murphy roll his eyes. "There." She pointed it out to him as Murphy watched his face fall into a frown. "They're coming to help us? Now we can kick grounders' ass." Some guy said and everyone cheered.

"Please tell me that they brought down some shampoo." One of the girls Bellamy was with said. The boy went back inside his tent probably to get ready as did the others and Murphy was ready to do his part. He just hoped Clarke would get there fast. God knows how much longer he can hold both Finn and Bellamy in camp for before either one decided to be the douchebag of the year and ruin whatever they can.

Back in the Ark, Abby entered the control room followed by Jake and Jaha as Marcus was working along with the others. "We felt the shaking. What was that, Marcus?" Jaha asked him and the man looked at him as well as the Griffins. "Raven launched herself and the pod. We calculate that she should be landing on Earth in a couple of minutes." He said to the three of them and the couple looked relieved. "She was able to get the part that was missing?" Jake asked and Abby looked at Kane since she knew he knew what they had done and he smiled. "Yes." He said and Jake nodded relieved.

"That is good because I spent the whole day trying to fix the problem on Agro Station and it's bad. Raven is our only chance before we are forced to make the choice we don't want to make." Jake said looking at the others and they all knew which choice he was talking about, the same choice Clarke was going to make sure to stop them from having to make it. Kane was sure of that, he believed in her, she would come through. "Now, we have 3 hours before the Council convenes and help me makes the decision about the future of our people." Jaha said to them as they watched the screens and Kane nodded as he left the two and Abby followed him, the two being away from Jaha and Jake.

"Marcus, wait." She said to him and he stopped before turning to her. "Thank you for covering for me and for getting Nigel." She said to him and he looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "Covering for you for what, councilor?" he asked her and she smiled understanding it. "Nothing, councilor." She said to him nodding her head before she went back to her husband and he nodded to himself as the door opened and Callie came in and went straight to him. "Was that Raven? Did it work?" she asked him and he hugged her. "We don't know yet but we will very soon, just need to be patient." He said and they turned to watch the monitors.

Back with Clarke, she protected herself from the blast as the pod hit the ground and waited for the fire to settle down around it a little but as soon as it was safe, she made her way through the woods and came to stand beside it. She was smart enough to take her jacket off and wrap around her hands because the side of that thing was burning hot and burning herself was not on her to do list of the day. She quickly pulled the door up and there she was, Raven. She was semi unconscious, which was good but after a quick check up on her and once Clarke knew her friend was okay, she quickly moved to grab the speaker and turn the radio on.

"Contacting, the Ark. This is Clarke Griffin. Over." She said into the radio and on the Ark, in the control room, they heard it and Abby and Jake as soon as they heard her voice moved toward the radio, Jake taking over Sinclair's position. "Clarke, is it you?" he said to her and she sighed relieved when she heard her father's voice. "Oh, come on, Dad. A few days away and you don't even recognize your own daughter's voice? I'm disappointed." She said jokingly and everyone in the room cheered for her. Kane was relieved that she was able to be there so fast.

"Clarke, sweetie, are you okay? Your wristband signal went out. What about Raven? Is she okay?" Abby asked her and Clarke smiled. "Mom, relax and breathe. I am fine and so is Raven, she is a little unconscious but I think it was the fall, she will be fine once she gets to rest a little. And I took the wristband out to try and contact you guys but I can see that you got that covered now. Jaha, are you there?" she said as everyone listened attentively to what she was saying and Thelonious answered her. "Yes, I am here, Clarke." He said into the radio and she nodded, this was it.

"First, I want you to know that Wells is perfectly fine," She said and he smiled relieved. "He even got himself a girlfriend," She said smiling and everyone on the room laughed. "And second and I guess what you all have been waiting to hear so let me have the pleasure to say it: the Earth is survivable for us." She said and she could hear everyone cheering through the radio. In there, they all hugged each other smiling and congratulating one another for finally having a solution for their people. Jake kissed Abby and Kane kissed Callie and everyone was happy about what they were hearing until Jaha asked for silence.

"So the 100 is fine and the Earth is survivable?" he asked as they waited for more information. "The 100 is fine, the Earth is very survivable and beautiful, may I add. There is so much green, flowers and rivers, trees. Animals." She said excitedly as they all smiled picturing her description. "We had two deaths but the other wristbands were taken off unfortunately, I stopped as soon as I could. Sorry for worrying you guys on that one." She explained and he nodded as he looked at Jake. "Raven was right." He said to his friend and Jake nodded. "But I have some other news that you will not find so good, Chancellor." She said to him and everyone tensed slightly and paid attention though Kane already knew what she was about to tell them.

"What is it, Clarke?" Jaha asked her seriously and she sighed before she dropped the bomb. "We are not alone on the Ground," she said and everyone seemed confused. "Can you explain that? I'm afraid we don't understand what you mean," He said and she did just that. "There were survivors here on the ground before us. We are not the last chance at the survival of the human race. It was already surviving down here." She said and Kane smiled, it was exactly what he said to Thelonious in the cage where they met Lexa for the first time.

Everyone looked at each other surprised. "So you're saying there are people there?" Jaha asked her. "Yes, one of us was attacked by them. We saved him but just barely, he is okay now." She said and Abby interrupted before he could speak. "Baby, are you okay?" she asked and Clarke sighed just as she noticed Raven twitching. "Yes, Mom. Look, I think Raven will be waking up soon and I need to check her wounds. Any other questions, I promise I will answer once I get her and the radio back to camp. All you need to know is that the Earth is survivable and we are okay, and Jaha?" she said. "Yes, Clarke?" he asked.

"It's goddamn time you got our people back home, don't you think?" she said to him and he smiled. "Yes, it is." He said agreeing and she smiled to herself. "Good, now if you will excuse me, I have a patient to check on. Mom, Dad, I love you. Tell Aunt Callie and Kane that I love them too and talk to you guys soon. Over." She said as disconnected the transmission and Jake and Abby hugged each other. "She is okay." Abby said and he nodded. "She is. They all are," He said smiling. "I think, sir, the reason for the Council meeting has just changed." Kane said smiling and Jaha looked at him. "You can bet on that, Marcus." Jaha said to him and everyone smiled. They were going back to Earth.

Meanwhile, Clarke noticed Raven was gaining consciousness and when she finally opened her eyes, Clarke smiled at her. "Hey, pretty bird." She said to the girl and Raven was confused before she started registering things. "Clarke?" she asked her and the blonde nodded. "Hi." She said and then the brunette looked around. "I made it?" she asked her and Clarke nodded as they smiled. Then Raven grunted and touched her head.

"Crap. This is not good." She said looking at the blood on her hand and looked at Clarke who took a deep breath and said. "At least, you're not a cripple, huh?" She said to her and watched as Raven's eyes went wide just like Kane and Murphy did when they remembered and she waited until it was done and the girl looked at her. "Clarke?" she said and her voice sounded different, wiser even and Clarke smiled at her.

"Welcome back, Ray. I missed you."


	42. A huge sucess

Call it a huge success

"Easy, easy." Clarke said as she helped the girl get out of the pod and out of the spacesuit she was in. "You son of bitch. Why did you wait this long to wake me up, Jackass? You woke up Kane and Murphy before me, didn't you?" Raven berated the blonde who could only smile at her. "I know but it was better this way. Things up there needed to go as smoothly as possible. I always planned to wake you up now and Kane was always supposed to be the first. Murphy got to be the second because I needed him to get arrested and when he did before I had planned, I had to do it." Clarke explained as she finished getting the girl ready.

"Can you get the radio? Let's not forget who will be on his merry way soon enough." Clarke said to her and Raven nodded. "You spoke with them?" she asked Clarke as she started detaching the radio carefully to not damage it. "And Bellamy? Still the same jackass?" she asked and Clarke smiled. "Yes, but I put him in his place. They know who is in charge." Clarke said and Raven smiled before a surprised look formed on her face. "Finn? He's alive." She said shakily and Clarke nodded understanding the meaning of that for both of them. "Yes, but there is something I need to tell you." The blonde said and Raven looked at her.

"What? You slept with him again?" she asked her and Clarke shook her head chuckling. "Of course not, you know who my heart belongs to. But it seems that he has fallen in love with me again. At least that is what he said when he stole a kiss from me earlier," She said sadly, "I'm sorry, Ray. I tried my best to avoid that, you know very well why but it seems I couldn't do anything about it." She said and the girl sighed before nodding. "It's okay. I love Finn and I always will but I have to be honest, my heart kind of chose someone else to love as well." She said as she grabbed the radio and stood up and Clarke looked at her in shock before it dawned on her and she smiled.

"I kind of felt there was something going on or beginning to go on between you and Luna in the island." Clarke said to her and Raven smiled, grabbing her jacket and putting it on. "Yes, there was and once I have a chance, I will see if we can do that again, if she will want me." She said and Clarke smiled hugging her friend. "I know she will. Now, let's go back. I don't want to cross path with Bellamy and I have so much to tell you." She said to the mechanic and Raven nodded as they started on their way back to camp talking about everything that Clarke had changed and what happened down here so far.

Meanwhile back in Camp, Octavia and Murphy went inside the tent where Bellamy was talking to the other boy about where he thought the pod landed. "We should get moving. Everyone is ready." Octavia said as she entered the tent but Bellamy shook his head. "No one is going anywhere. Not while is dark, it isn't safe." He said to her just as Murphy predicted. "We will head out at first light. Spread the word." Bellamy said and everyone else left including him. He knew he didn't need to stop Bellamy anymore. It was weird but it was almost like he had felt when Raven woke up.

So he pretty much knew that Clarke got to her, if she did, she already spoke to the Ark and would probably be on her way back with the girl and the radio. All he had to do now was wait and that was what he did. He waited and watched and soon enough, he saw Bellamy trying to escape camp unnoticed but he also saw Octavia doing the same following her big brother and Clarke had said that he was not supposed to interfere on that, that the younger Blake needed to follow her brother. He wasn't sure why but she said she would explain to him later and he trusted her so he kept quiet.

Meanwhile on the Ark, the Council was having their meeting. "So it's true then? Earth is survivable?" a bearded guy asked and Jaha nodded. "Yes. Like we had agreed, Raven Reyes launched her pod in direction of Earth and a little after we presumed she had landed we made contact with one of the 100. Clarke Griffin." He explained and Jake and Abby held hands and had a smile on their face. "Our daughter made contact and told us that the others were fine and that it is safe for our people to come down." Jake said to them.

"She also revealed an interesting piece of information. It seems that there are pre-existing survivors on Earth. People that have been leaving there all this time and that attacked one of them but Clarke saved him." Jaha said to them and the councilors started whispering. "Councilors. We need to focus. Yes, there may be a treat to the kids but for now there is nothing we can do to help so we need to focus on getting the rest of our people down to Earth. Oxygen levels are dropping and people are getting sicker every day." Kane said though he knew he needed to delay them.

The other part of his mission that Clarke gave him was to make sure they only feel down when they were supposed to which mean that he needed to delay them at least a few days and he already knew how. "Kane is right. Sector 17 is not an option anymore. We are not sacrificing 330 of us knowing that Earth is safe so I suggest we move forward with the Exodus plan." Jaha said and the others nodded. "Sir, I suggest we start preparations but let Unity Day come first. it's going to be the last one we spend here." Kane said and the others seemed to agree.

"Yes, that way, it gives us a good amount of time to properly get ready." A woman said and the others nodded, all of them pronouncing themselves in favor of his suggestion. "Jake, Abby. What do you say? Can our people wait until them?" Jaha asked the couple. "I think it will be good to celebrate it one last time here. I agree with Kane." Jake said and Abby agreed as well. "Very well, then it is decided. The Exodus will happen after Unity Day." Jaha said and Kane smiled. One more part of his mission was finished. It would all go according to plan and he couldn't be happier.

Back on Earth, the sun was already rising in the Sky when Clarke and Raven came across the camp. "It's nice to see this place again." The brunette said and Clarke smiled before she called out. "Open the door. It's me." she said loudly and heard the message being spread around camp that she was back just as they opened the gate and she came in with Raven behind her and everyone was there waiting and she smiled at them when all of a sudden there was a scream. "Raven." Both girls looked to see Charlotte running towards them and Raven smiled as the girl hugged her.

"Hey, kid. I missed you too." She said as the others came too. Murphy, Wells and Jessica who introduced herself to Raven who said it to Wells. "You get them, tiger." He chuckled before someone asked. "Clarke, what happened? Who is she?" she turned to the crowd. "Very well. Everyone, this is Raven. She is the one who fell down on the pod we all saw tonight. She is also my friend. With her help, I was able to contact the Ark and they already know that it is safe down here and will soon start planning to come down. So as I promised, you can finally get the wristbands off." She said and everyone cheered and she smiled as well.

"Clarke, is it really true?" Wells asked her and everyone looked at her as she nodded at him. "Yes, I spoke with your Dad personally and very politely, told our dear Chancellor to get his and every one of our peoples' asses down here." She said loudly and everyone laughed and cheered including him. "Okay, everyone. It's time we celebrate and do our bracelets off party. Start preparing whatever food we have, if we don't, then go hunting because today marks a victory for all of us." She said loudly for them and they cheered and went to do as she said and she turned to her friends.

"Wells, Charlotte and Jessica. Go and help them prepare. Murphy, you and I are going to help Raven settled down and get that radio working." She said and they nodded moving out before Raven hugged Murphy. "Don't shoot me again, bastard." She said in his ear and he nodded. "I won't." He said pulling back and Clarke motioned for them to follow her to the dropship and up to the upper level and once they were inside, she closed the hatch. "Okay, Murphy, reports." Clarke asked and he looked at Raven.

"If it is about Finn, she already knows and is in love with Luna, now tell us." Clarke said and he looked at the brunette. "I'm not even surprised. I honestly thought you two were together before," he said and she smiled. "Hopefully, we will be again," She said and he nodded. "Finn wanted to go after you last night but I stopped him. He left a few minutes before to grab something for you." He said and the girls looked at each other. "He must have gone to the bunker." She said and Raven nodded. "What else?" Clarke asked him.

"Both Bellamy and Octavia left as you said they would." He said and Raven turned to the blonde. "You didn't stop Octavia?" Clarke shook her head. "In the valley, Becca warned me that there are certain events that we cannot, should not change, they are called markers. Octavia following Bellamy, will lead her to Lincoln who will take her then Bellamy will find him, Finn will get stabbed and Lincoln will be brought here." She explained and Murphy finally understood. He wasn't here last time for all of that.

"To be tortured by us." Raven said to her. "Yes but not this time. This time I have a plan to approach that particular situation that will work for us. I promise, there is no way I am letting Bellamy torture Lincoln and I already know which one is the antidote so Finn will be fine as well. But this is a marker and it has to happen up until the point where he gets here after that, I can change it and I will." Clarke said to them and the other two nodded.

"There is no way I am letting Bellamy or anyone else hurt Lincoln. Not this time, it was already bad enough before. He will be perfectly fine or my name is not Clarke Griffin." The blonde girl said firmly and her friends trusted her words. "Well, back in the Valley, Becca did warn us that there was information that only you had and that we needed to follow your lead so lead the way, blondie. We are but your servants" Murphy said to the blonde bowing dramatically and Raven nodded agreeing with him as they all chuckled at him.

"Yeah, we trust you. If you say it needs to happen than we will help you, it is what we are here for but I really don't want to torture Lincoln. He is such a nice guy and I feel so bad for doing it before." Raven said and Clarke nodded. "Me too but this will be good for Octavia and him, it is how they fall in love." She said and Murphy chuckled and the girls looked at him and that just made him laugh harder. "Did he hit his head somewhere?" she asked and Clarke shook her head. "I don't know." She said.

"I didn't hit my head against anything, you ugly jackass. I just realized that we all feel for a grounder that at some point either wanted us dead or almost got us dead. Octavia and Lincoln. Then Clarke and the Commander, then me and Emori and lastly Raven and Luna." He said and the girls finally understood what he meant and laughed as well. "Let's not forget, Bellamy and Echo, I mean there are serious sexual tension there. They really should have just had sex to relieve us of all of that tension." Raven said to them and the other two nodded smiling.

"I know right, if so much hadn't happened between our people and the grounders and if Echo hadn't had to follow her queen's orders, I think they would have gotten together eventually." Clarke said and Raven nodded. "Oh, definitely. Maybe they will this time since we are not having Bellamy 'Let a maniac kill all grounders' Blake in our hands, right?" She asked Clarke and the blonde nodded. "Of course not, neither Bellamy nor Pike will do that again, I guarantee you that. I will not let them." She said and the other two nodded trusting her.

"Okay now, let's really get back to work. Raven, you try and get some rest. With everything that happened in the last two days you deserve it, not to mention that you have a slight concussion from the fall and need to rest for it to get better. Meanwhile, Murphy and I will check what is going on outside. We established a work schedule for everyone and I want to make sure everything is going as I instructed. You just make sure to rest, okay?" Clarke said and the girl nodded as they all went down and out of the dropship while Raven went to the tents where Clarke directed her too as did as asked and went to sleep.


	43. Honesty is the best approach

Honesty is a good approach

When Finn returned from his trip to the bunker, Clarke was working with Charlotte and Jessica preparing the meat as the team responsible for the food prepared the fire and collected water and the other teams were still working on the last touches of the wall, it was almost completely finished and as she felt someone looking at her, she searched for whoever it was and there was Finn with a longing look on his face. "You should go talk to him. Tell him that Raven is here," Charlotte said from beside her and she turned to the younger girl and sighed. "I should, shouldn't I?" she said and the girls smiled. "Yeah, you should," Maggie said and Clarke sighed before she cleaned her hands and went in his direction.

"Hi." She said as she came to be in front of him. "Hi, I asked for you last night but Murphy said you had gone for a walk. He wouldn't let me go after you. I was worried, it is dangerous to be out, the grounders could attack at any minute." He said to her and she nodded. "I did. I needed to clear my head a little. But don't worry, I was cautious." She answered him and he sighed. "Look, Clarke, about yesterday and the kiss, I am sorry. I shouldn't have done that but I just couldn't help it." He said to her and she nodded. "I understand that but I also need you to understand that nothing will ever happen between us. We can be friends, I want to be your friend but anything past that, it's not happening." She said firmly to him.

"Because of Raven?" he asked her and she shook her head. "Yes for you because she is your girlfriend and you shouldn't cheat on her under any circumstance with any girl. No for me because I just don't like you like that, romantically." She said to him and he nodded looking down before looking back up at her. "I am sorry I kissed you like that. I shouldn't have done it. I wasn't thinking, I guess." He said apologetically and she nodded at him. "From what I've got to know you, that is a daily occurrence, you not thinking before doing something stupid." She said to him and he chuckled nodding.

"But you have to, Finn. You need to start thinking about what you do and the consequences of it. Because someone will get hurt if you don't, sometimes the people you care about the most or yourself. We are on Earth and in constant danger and not only from the grounders, anything we do here have an effect on this group and our people so you need to be careful with your actions. Start thinking about what you will do and what every little thing it will cause if you do it. Do that and you will hurt a lot less people along the way. Trust me on that." She said remembering what he did in the grounder village.

He nodded at her. "You're right and I will, I promise but in the meantime," He said putting his hand on his jacket pockets and pulling it out a few more pencils, papers and even charcoal. "I got more supplies for you, as an apology for what I did yesterday. I hope you can accept both the gift and my apology for my stupid actions." He said giving it to her who took it. "Thanks, Finn and I do accept it. But there is something very important I need to tell you." She said to him and he looked at her. "Raven is here." She said and saw the surprise look on his face. "She is? But how?" he asked shocked.

"The pod from last night, the one everyone saw falling down, well that was her. I was actually near the crash site and was able to get to her as soon as she landed and talked to the Ark to let them know is safe to come down. That's why the preparations," She said motioning around them as he looked at the others smiling, "As I promised, we will have a party to take the wristbands off now that we don't need them anymore and as for Raven, she is in that tent. You can go there, if you want." She said pointing to the big tent where Raven was working. She woke up a few minutes ago and went straight into working on getting image contact with the Ark. She really couldn't understand the meaning of 'you need to rest'.

"Okay, I think I will. Thanks by the way," He said to her and she nodded and before he left, she called to him and he looked at her. "I told her about the kiss," She said and he took a few seconds before he nodded and continued on his way to the tent and Clarke sighed walking back to her work with the girls. "How do you think that conversation is going to go?" Jessica asked and Clarke sighed. "Honestly, I hope that whatever they decided, it will be good for both of them and that they'll be okay." She said and the girls nodded. "You did the right thing telling her, Clarke," Charlotte said and she smiled. "I know. Let's get to work, this meat won't get ready by herself." Clarke said and they smiled as they continued working and chatting.

Raven was working and concentrating very hard on getting this thing ready when she heard the tent flap open and as she looked behind her to see who it was, she was surprised and shocked to see him there but more than anything, she was happy. She got up and went to hug him and he hugged her back, either without saying one word. What was there for them to say? Hi, I am glad to see you but just yesterday, I was trying to get into your best friend's pants or Hey, so nice to see you're okay, especially since the last time I saw you, you were dead. Yeah, words were not really needed right now so they just hugged.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before she pulled back, teary eyed. "I am so happy to see you," She said and he smiled though a little grimly. "Me too, though I should have known that you were in the pod. You're the only one crazy enough to do it." He said to her and she laughed. "What? Fixing a hundred years old pod and then falling to Earth all on my own, please. That is just another Thursday for me," she said jokingly and they both laughed before she took on a more serious tone of voice and more serious look on her face.

"I think we need to talk about us and about what I feel for Clarke, don't we?" she said to him and he sighed. "Look Raven, I never meant to hurt you, you have to know that. I care about you so much, you're the only family I have and hurting you is the last thing I could ever mean to do it." He said to her sincerely and she nodded. She knew that deep down it wasn't his intentions to hurt her or to fall in love with Clarke both times, it had just happened and she knew that he cared about her and she cared about him too.

"But I can't, I won't lie to you now. Yesterday, after I kissed Clarke, someone reminded me to have a little honor and respect for both of you so I will be honest with you, Raven," He said pausing to take a deep breath before he continued. "I have feelings for Clarke, strong feelings and I didn't mean for it to happen but it did and I am sorry. I tried to have something with her behind your back and it was in every way wrong of me to do so and with her too who is your best friend but I couldn't control my heart. I am very deeply sorry for it. I feel very bad and guilty." He said to her with tears in his eyes and she let a tear fall down her face.

This was exactly what she had needed him to have done before, not simply let her figure out that he had slept with Clarke and didn't want her anymore. All she needed was for him to be this truthful and she would have understood. She was glad he was doing it this time, it made what she was about to say to him a lot easier. "You're right. It was a shitty thing for you to do. To get with my best friend but I understand that sometimes, our hearts don't always prepare us for when they decided to love someone. It just does and we just have to deal with all the consequences of that. Believe me, I know." She said talking about Luna though he didn't know.

"And yes, I am hurt that you don't love me anymore or maybe never did at least not like that but it's okay. You will always be my family, the first person to ever see me and extend their hands to help me without wanting anything in exchange for that and I guarantee that you will have your place in my heart for as long as I live. But I guess we should do the right thing for both of us and call it quits. Don't you agree?" she said to him and he nodded as a tear fell down on his face and he wiped it. "I do." He said to her and she hugged him tightly. "I will always love you, no matter what." She said to him and he hugged her even tighter. "Me too."

"Okay, now. Let me finish this because our fierce blonde leader wants visual contact with the Ark as soon as possible and I cannot disappoint her on my first day here, now can I?" She said laughing pulling back from the hug and he nodded and smiled at her. "Okay, I will let the genius work. See you later?" he said to her hopefully and she nodded. "You can bet and please, let me cut that thing you have on your head because I am sure as hell it isn't hair." She said and he nodded laughing. "Whenever you want," He said to her and she nodded before he turned around and left the tent and she sat down and not very long after that, Clarke went inside and sat down with her holding her hand.

"You okay?" Clarke asked the girl and Raven nodded. "Yeah, I am. It was certainly a better talk than the last one we had so that's good and I guess I am just happy we were able to be honest with each other though I do have to say that remembering what I do certainly helped takes this better than last time when he blindsided me." She explained and Clarke nodded clutching her necklace. "Yeah, if I didn't remember Lexa and how much I love her, I probably would have slept with him again." She said to her and Raven took a look at the necklace and back at the girl. "The L of Lexa and her head symbol." She said as a matter of fact and Clarke smiled at her.

"Courtesy of Kane, I asked him to make me this so that I could have something physical to remind me of her whenever I was missing her too badly which is every second of every day so having this with me helps a lot, actually." Clarke said sighing and Raven nodded at her. "You know I can't wait for her to join in the party and get you some good sex to relieve that tension you have, I swear you are just like Bellamy and Echo were towards the end right there. You remember?" She joked and Clarke laughed along with the mechanic nodding. She did remember that.

"You don't even know the struggle. I swear that you have no idea what it takes for me to stay here, pretending I don't know that within a couple of hours, I could be in her arms, kissing her, hearing her voice, seeing her face, have her touch me but also knowing that I can't do that. I can't just leave. No matter what me and my body want, I need to remind myself every time that I have to wait and concentrate on everything else first. I am telling you Ray, it's a new level of torture that not even the Mountain Men have thought of it." She said to the brunette sighing deeply and groaning just thinking about it.

"I can only imagine but you only have to wait a few more weeks and then you will be with your badass powerful and with all respect, extremely hot, girlfriend." She said to the blonde and Clarke smiled. "Hey, I stayed clear from your boyfriend, you and your dirty mind stay clear form my girlfriend." The blonde said pushing her shoulder playfully and the mechanic laughed. "I'm sorry Clarke but I'm not blind. And I am pretty sure, like 100% sure, that even a blind person can see that she is the very definition of hot and attractive." Raven said to her and Clarke chuckled at her friend.

"I mean, what must she look like in bed, all naked and sweaty?" she asked and Clarke sighed. "Like the most beautiful view any pair of eyes, though only mine, will ever get to see." She said possessively and they both laughed. "Lucky bitch." Raven said before continuing. "But seriously, Clarke. You got really lucky and I don't mean because she looks like a damn goddess but because the way she looks at you, it's like she is shooting hearts at you from her own eyes. She is so in love with you." Raven said and Clarke nodded. "Lexa is all tough and serious when she is in Commander mode but when she is just Lexa, she is so romantic and sweet." Clarke said dreamily and Raven smiled.

"I can't picture the Commander becoming a hot mess for you. But once again, you did make my boyfriend want to cheat on me twice and actually do it once so I am almost thinking that what you have underneath all of those clothes must be really good or you really know how to work it." Raven said joking and Clarke slapped her. "Stop with the dirty talk, you pervert." She said and they laughed until Murphy peaked his head inside. "I am sorry to interrupt your girl talk and nice work with the hairy douchebag, ugly face but our fearless leader is heavily needed at the moment." He said and she looked at him. "What happened?" she asked and he smirked.

"Bellamy is back."


	44. Achieved milestone

A huge milestone is achieved

"He is?" Clarke asked him and Murphy nodded. "Nathan just spotted him coming back, he should be here any minute and I guess he won't be joyful since he didn't get to the bird here on time." He said motioning to Raven and the brunette nodded. "I still don't know why he shot Jaha. It's not like Kane didn't promised to get him on the dropship." Clarke said and Raven looked at her. "Maybe Shumway threatened him with Octavia's life. After all, he had the meanings to get her killed." She said and the other two nodded. "That is what I think too." Clarke said and stood up.

"Do you need help to deal with Bell?" Raven asked her and Clarke shook her head. "This is a conversation between Bellamy and I but thanks. I will see you two later." She said and walked out of the tent. "Hopefully, she will be able to reach him and bring him to our side." Raven said and Murphy shook his head. "I actually don't know if that is the best idea but well, she is in charge so let me get back to work. I will send Monty to help you, maybe that way you can get it done faster." He said and left as Raven sighed and continued on working.

Clarke walked out of the tent just in time to see Bellamy making a bee line for his tent and she went after him, and not even bothering to ask permission, she simply went inside and he turned to face her. "If you're looking for some fun princess, maybe you should go to Finn. He seems to want it very much." He said with his smirk trying to throw her off but she simply shook her head. "I know everything." She said to him and he looked at her. "Know what princess?" he asked her and she sighed. "You shot Jaha." She said to him and he paled.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He said and turned his back to her. "Can you deal with your shit like a man for once in your life Bellamy or is that too much to ask from you?" she said firmly and he turned to look at her shocked by what she said. She was tired of this side of him and she would make sure to show him just how much of a douchebag he is and that he needs to chance. He once said that is who he had always been but she didn't think so, she didn't think it was true then and she doesn't think it is true now and if she has to slap this asshole attitude out of him, she will.

"Stop playing games with me because I don't have the time or the patience for it and face what you have done head on. Deal with it like a man and not like a child. You shot the Chancellor and that is why you wanted the wristbands off, not because we were oppressed and now should do whatever the hell we wanted." She said firmly and he sighed. "How do you know what I did?" he asked her and she sighed too. "The same way I know that you went to the pod alone because you wanted to destroy the radio so we wouldn't talk to the Ark. Because I got to know you." She said and he sat down on his makeshift bed.

"I had to do it, okay? I had to shot Jaha. You wouldn't understand." He said to her and she kneeled in front of him. "Did someone threaten Octavia?" she asked him gently and he looked at her in surprise. "How do you know that?" He asked her and she gave him a small smile. "I already answered that. I got to know you. Your sister is more important to you than anything and you would do pretty much anything to protect her, to keep her safe." She said to him and he nodded. She sighed again before she sat down by his side.

"I understand what you did and why you did it more than you think. I may not have blood siblings like you but if someone threatened my friends or my family, I would probably do the same thing you did but Bellamy, listen to me. Running from your problems doesn't make them go away and certainly is not the right way to deal with them in the first place. Letting other people, innocent people at that pay for your actions is the worst mistake you made in the whole situation." She said to him and he turned his head to the side and looked at her.

"Why do you say that?" he asked her. "Because you didn't know this but I went last night for a walk and I ended up near the crash site and got to the pod, only to find my best friend, Raven, inside it. She told me that if she hadn't made contact with the Ark in 5 hours, they would start preparation to kill 320 people up there to save oxygen, which means that if I hadn't made contact with them when I did and you had gotten to the radio first and destroyed it, you would have sentenced those innocent people to death just because you were afraid to face what you did." She explained to him and he looked shocked.

"I didn't know that." He said to her and she nodded. "I know and I also know that you don't know this but Jaha is alive and well, okay? I spoke with the man myself." She said to him and he looked even more shocked after she said that. "What? How? I shot him." He asked her and she smiled. "Two reasons. One, you're a lousy shot." She said joking and he gave her a small chuckle. "Two, my mother is a very good doctor and saved his life." She said and he nodded. He knew her mother and even if he didn't, he would have heard people talking about her.

"Look Bellamy, I know that you are scared about what will happen to you once they get down here and you are right to be scared, you didn't just shoot anyone, you shoot the Chancellor, it is a serious crime but I promise, I give you my word to you that I will not let anything happen to you." She said and he looked at her. It was clear to her that he didn't know if he should believe her and was also doubting what reason she could have to help him when she knew every stupid thing he did.

"Why? How?" he asked suspiciously and she answered. "Why? Because you can be a jackass, a honest to God stupid and selfish asshole if you want. But I have seen you with the others, you care for them and let's not even bring Octavia into the mix." She joked and he smiled. "You can be a good person, Bellamy. I know you can and I believe that if Earth is a second chance for our people, it can be one for you too. All you have to do is choose to do better, to be better and nothing will stop you." She said sincerely looking at him.

"And I also know that we are going to need you if we want to survive here until the Ark comes down and even after that and as for the how, well, I will talk to Jaha and convince to give a chance and if you tell him who is the one that wants him dead, I am sure he will pardon you. I will get him to pardon you." She said to him and he sighed. "Do you really think so?" he asked her and she nodded. "I do. Now, I need to go check on the preparations for what I think will be your favorite feast, the one where we take the bracelets off." She said to him and he chuckled.

"And you sir, try to get some rest and think about your actions. You're the only one responsible for what you choose to do and you really need to start owning up to your shit. It is the right thing to do." She said to him and he nodded. "Thank you." He said to her and she moved to hug him and he hugged her back. "I take care of my people and you, whether I wanted to or not, became my people so I will take care of you even if from your own stupidity." She said to him and pulled back standing up and walking out of his tent, feeling relieved that they had this conversation. She really needed for Bellamy to start becoming the friend he once was.

Hours went by and when the sky got dark, everyone gather together around the fire while the meat was cooking. Monty and Jasper made some moonshine and some guys were playing some music with parts that they found on the Ark, it was a nice environment to be in, it was fun. Clarke and her friends were talking amongst themselves and everyone was enjoying it and having fun even Bellamy, once he came out of his tent, he started to help the others and Raven said to the blonde girl that with Monty's help she would be able to have the radio ready in a few more hours.

Wells came to Clarke's side as she watched everyone start to dance. "Nice view, isn't it?" he said as he sat down with her and she nodded. "Yeah, it is." She said smiling at him and hugged him as Murphy turned to every one of the 100 and called their attention as they looked at him. "You know what I think, guys? That is time for a speech from our fierce leader who made this night happen. Clarke." He said and put a little stoop in front of her and she smiled shaking her head. "No, no." She said to him shaking her head. "Come on, Clarke." Someone said from the crowd and others followed chanting her name and she chuckled. "Okay." She said and got on the little stoop and faced everyone.

"I had no idea I would be speaking tonight for everyone but here I am, shaking like a leaf, thanks for that one Murphy." She said to him and everyone chuckled at them and she smiled. "Well, I noticed that when Murphy here introduced me as the leader, no one complained about it and that is an approval. Isn't it?" she asked and everyone raised their glasses and cheered a choir of yes. She chuckled. "Well, in that case, the first thing I want to say is thank you for that. For trusting in me to lead you, that means a lot." She said and nodded at them who nodded back at her.

"I didn't know most of you back in the Ark. Practically none of you and just like Bellamy said once, I was in the privileged side and that made most of you not like me for a while, I know. I get it. The princess, right?" She said and they chuckled. "But it was by your side, together, that I experienced Earth for the first time in my life and in three generations of our people and I will never forget that. I will never forget that this experience brought us closer and helped us become one people despite whatever background we have, who our parents are or were." She said looking at Wells who smiled at her.

"What we created here since we landed, and I believe in this with everything in me, is a family. We got to know that Dyson hates nuts." She said and everyone looked at the guy who smiled. "That Mel really is obsessed with her hair." She said and the girl shook her head. "That Murphy is a mean cook." She said and the boy smirked. "That Bellamy is just old." She said and everyone laughed including him. "That Monty makes a really disgusting moonshine, I mean seriously, what the hell is this?" she said motioning to her glass and everyone laughed as well.

"But being serious, we did something special here, we accomplished this wall, patrols, job assignments, all of this together, by working as a team and that makes me a very happy leader and on top of it all, this day was a victory for all of us. We were able to save the Ark. Can you believe that?" she said loudly and everyone cheered. "They will come down here and we will be able to all live in this beautiful planet and if they are up there celebrating as we are down here is thanks to you. Thank you for not taking those bracelets off even when everything inside you and outside of you told you to do it." She said looking at Bellamy and they nodded.

"Bellamy once said that you are not criminals but survivors and fighters. I couldn't agree more with him, only on that though." She said to them and they chuckled. "However there is one thing I would like to add to that list and it is that today, you were saviors." They nodded solemnly at what she said and looked at each other before looking back at her. "I will say one more thing and this is very serious, when they come down, the council and everyone better be grateful to us for saving their sorry asses or I swear to all of you I will personally send them all back to space." She said and they smiled and laughed along with her.

"Well, I really didn't prepare a speech but I just wanted to say how proud I am of every single one of you and everything each one of you have done for this group and our people and how glad I am for the chance to get to know all of you and I promise I will continue to do my very best to help and protect everyone in this camp." She said to them and they nodded. "And as my first act as official leader of the 100, I ask that Mr. Wells Jaha comes forward to be the first one getting his bracelet off. Wells, if you would please." She said and everyone cheered as Wells stepped forward like she said.

Despite his last name, they actually started to accept him and he was getter better with everyone else and Clarke was very happy for her friend. She turned to the boy and Murphy who was ready to do the honors. "Off with it Murphy." She said and Wells extended his arm on the table they prepared for this and Murphy smiled before he started breaking it and with a click and a little grunt, it was off and everyone cheered and he walked back to the crowd and they patted his back. "Charlotte, your turn." Clarke called and the little girl moved forward.

Murphy did the same for her and everyone congratulated her when she came back and that way, one by one, they all removed the bracelets with everyone cheering and congratulating the person who did it. Then when everyone was done, including Murphy who got Wells to do his, they started the partying once again though Clarke didn't let go really and she could see that Bellamy didn't either especially when she started noticing him looking everywhere around camp searching for Octavia and she knew that the night was far from over.


	45. Marker is done

The marker is done

It was about a few hours later, that Clarke found herself with the girls who were talking about the new couples on camp when Bellamy came to her side asking for Octavia. "Did you girls see my sister?" he asked them and they shook his head. "I didn't see her all day long," Charlotte said and Jessica shook her head. He looked even more panicked. "She followed me and I sent her back here but if no one saw her all day, it means that she never made it." He concluded looking at Clarke. "I have to find her now." He said and she nodded.

"Girls, stay here, okay?" she said and when they nodded, she pulled him away. "Okay, you should go but not alone. Gather the weapons we have and I will get the others to come." She said and he nodded before she went to find Murphy and Raven and luckily for her they were together and with no one around them. "Hey, blondie, what is it with the face?" he asked and she sighed. "Bellamy just figured out Octavia is not here. He will be gathering the group to go after her." She said and they both straightened up.

"You sure this needed to be done?" Murphy asked her and she nodded solemnly. "Yeah, now help me gather everyone." She said and they nodded before they started calling people out just as Bellamy came back with a bag of their weapons and put them on the ground. "Everyone, grab a weapon. My sister has been out there alone for twelve hours. Arm up, we are not coming back without her." He said to them and Monroe was the first one to grab a weapon, others following and Jasper moved to do it but Clarke stopped him.

"Jasper, no. You won't go." She said to him and he shook his head. "Clarke, I have to. I need to do this." He said to her. "We need all the people we can get." Bellamy said to her with his arms crossed but she shook her head. "And you have it but Jasper will be staying here in camp." She said before turning to the boy. "I know you want to help find Octavia. I get that, so do I. But how do you think she is going to feel if you get hurt because of her? She will never forgive herself and she gave you an order before, don't you remember? You're not allowed to die. So stay here and help me keep everyone safe and Bellamy and the others will bring her back." She said pleadingly to him.

"I can't stay inside forever, you said I needed to face my fears." He said to her and she nodded. "Yes I did but you don't have to do it so fast, especially not tonight and not like this. I was talking about baby steps. First, you get comfortable being outside, later we talk about you facing another grounder. Please, listen to me." She said and he looked at her before he nodded. "Okay. I will stay." He said to her and she smiled before kissing his cheek. "Thank you." She said and he nodded before he left and she turned to Bellamy. "You can't coddle him forever." He said to her and she sighed.

"Jasper has PTSD, Bellamy. You don't overcome that overnight. He needs time and I will give it to him. We will give it to him, got it?" She said and he shrugged. "We need a tracker. Finn, get here." He called the boy who was sporting a cleaner hairdo, Raven's work, Clarke guessed. He got here and the group got ready. "My sister is out there and I am going to find her. Let's go." He said and the group started leaving camp and Clarke sighed as Raven and Murphy came to her side. "And now what do we do?" Murphy asked her and she sighed.

"Now, we wait. Tomorrow will be a very long day." She said to them and that was what they did. They all went to sleep and woke up the next day, Clarke and Murphy continued working on camp, Raven and Monty on the radio and when they were finished, the boy came to find Clarke and she followed him and entered the dropship where Raven was finalizing making the connection. "Hey, Ray. Done?" she asked her. "Just a second." She said to the blonde and Clarke waited a few minutes before the girl sighed. "Okay, done. Now, let me see if I can make visual contact with them." She said and Clarke waited.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait that long when she looked at the screen and saw Sinclair. "Sinclair, buddy. It's good to see your ugly face." Raven said to the man and Clarke smiled looking at the shocked look on the man's face. "Raven, is that you?" he asked her and she nodded. "Of course, it is me, jackass. Who did you think would be? Now put me on the big screen for everyone in there to see us. Our leader wants to have a few words with the Chancellor." She said and he nodded. "Okay, just a second." He said and started typing and then suddenly they got the view of the room and Clarke smiled, they did it.

Abby, Jake, Jaha, Kane and Callie were all there. "Hey guys, there is someone here to talk to you." Raven came out of the seat and Clarke went to sit down and she could see the relief on their faces as she put the headphones on. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad." She said and smiled at them and Abby couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Oh my God. Clarke." She said before emotion overwhelmed her and she started crying. "It's so good to see your face, kiddo." Her father said and she smiled. "It's good to see you too, Dad. I love you both. The rest of you, it is very nice to see you too." She said and nodded at Kane letting him know she got his message from Raven. He smiled.

"So Clarke, you're the leader of the 100." Jaha asked her and she nodded looking at him. "Someone had to take charge and they accepted me in the role so here I am." She said smiling. "We had been waiting for you to make contact again. We have so many questions." He said to her and she nodded. "I would think so." She said. "Any more contact with the survivors?" He asked and she shook her head. "We call them grounders and we didn't have contact with them though that might change soon. One of our own went missing yesterday and a group went out to find her, they should be returning soon enough." She said to him.

"So they are hostile?" he asked her and she knew she had to play her cards right. "Understandably so." She said to him and they all looked intrigued. "Why do you say that, sweetheart?" her mother asked her and she looked at Raven who nodded encouragingly. "Well, we are invaders who came from the Sky burning through their forest and claiming a land that I believe have been theirs for the past 100 years. Who wouldn't want to attack someone they saw as a threat to their people? So while I hoped we could find an agreement between both people, I understand why they wouldn't like us." She said to them.

"I am sure you would feel the same if suddenly a different civilization came out of nowhere and claimed a part of the Ark for themselves without asking permission, wouldn't you?" she said them and her father smiled. "Yes, we would." He answered for everyone and she nodded. "And you would do whatever was necessary to protect our people? Kill the invaders possibly?" she said to Jaha and he nodded. "Yes." He answered her questions and she nodded. "Then you also understand why they would to attack us." She said to them and they nodded.

"You're right, Clarke. Just because they attacked doesn't mean they are hostile, maybe it's just their response to what they believe is an attack as well." Kane said to her and she smiled and so did Raven. "Exactly but enough about that. When are you coming down?" she asked them. "We decided to send the first Exodus ship after Unity Day." Abby said and Clarke smiled, it had to be Kane. "Can everyone wait until then?" she asked them and her father nodded. "I was able to give a temporary solution for that, just enough for our people to hold on until then." He said and she smiled.

"Good job, Dad." She said and he nodded. "You know it." He said smiling at her and that was when they heard the noises and her name being called before Wells came inside and looked at the screen. "Dad?" he said to him and Jaha smiled relieved. "Wells." He said in the verge of tears before Raven interrupted. "Wells, what is going on?" she asked the young guy and he shook his head before looking at the blonde. "Clarke, they're back. Finn is hurt." He said and she nodded. "Clarke, what happened?" her mother asked. "I don't know, I'm sorry. We need to go, Mom." Clarke said and shut down the transmission.

"Let's go." She said to the other two and ran out of the dropship. "Wells, get the stretcher." She said and he did just that as the girls went to the gates. Jasper helped Octavia get inside and Murphy and the others moved to help Bellamy with Finn. "Oh my God." She said, it was exactly like the last time and checked his pulse. "He is alive, but his pulse is weak." She said. "I didn't want to remove the knife." Bellamy said and she looked at him. "No, that was a good call, the knife is containing the bleeding." She said to him.

Wells came with the stretcher as she had asked and she nodded thanking him. "Okay, put him in the stretcher and gently take him inside the dropship, there is a table there, put him on it." She ordered the boys and they started carrying him away. Octavia passed by her and she asked if the younger Blake was okay and she nodded before Clarke started running to the dropship but she looked back to see the Blake's arguing but she had no time to waste and just as she looked up, she saw the clouds getting greyer and greyer and she knew the storm was about to hit them again.

As soon as she got inside the dropship, she shrugged off her jacket and enveloped her gun around it and gave it to Murphy who didn't question it, he just took it from her and put it inside his bag that he kept with him at all times. Finn was lying down and she moved to get his jacket off very carefully and then grabbed her knife and started cutting off his shirt just as the storm started, removing it. "Clarke, are you going to take it out?" Raven asked more relieved knowing that Clarke knew what to do and Clarke looked at her and shook her head motioning for her to get closer and the girl did it and Clarke whispered to her.

"If I take the knife out now, the poison will start spreading faster and by the time Bellamy gets back, he will be dead. We need to wait. It's his only chance." Clarke said to her and the girl nodded understanding what she explained before the people started getting inside. "Okay, I need a stitching needle." She said to the mechanic and Raven moved away to do it and she put a cloth around the wound to help with the blood and looked at Finn. "Hold on. I am going to save you." She said to him and to herself as the noise of one more thunder filled the air. Charlotte came to her side.

"Do you need help?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "Make a small fire and start boiling water then put a wet cloth on his forehead." She said and the girl moved to do what she asked. Clarke was able to delay the removal, claiming that she needed to be sure of his injuries and well people were more scared of the grounders and the storm then they were paying attention to what she was doing. Then, she sent Raven to try and contact her mother and Raven did try but the storm was once again starting to jam the signal and she wasn't getting response. Poetic. Or ironic. Or both.

"Murphy." Care called out for the boy and he came to her side. "The storm is coming, check on the tents and whatever we have out there. Organize the people and get it all inside the dropship." She said and he nodded before he turned around. "You, you and you, come with me. Now." He called out for a few people and they walked out of the ship and started doing what she instructed. It took them about an hour to have it finished and by the end, the storm was falling down hard and Clarke went to the door to look at it.

This was it, she thought before she went back to check on Finn. They had waited for about an hour and Clarke knew it was about the same time as before and that Bellamy will be coming in soon with Lincoln. Octavia came inside with two bottles and gave one for Clarke who took a sniff of it even though she already knew. "Monty's moonshine? Good idea." she asked smiling and the girl nodded. "No germs can survive whatever this thing is." Octavia said as there was a little shake on the dropship. "Storm is getting worse. Monroe, close the door." Clarke said as she dipped the drink on her hands and Octavia did as well.

"We still have people out there." Monroe said to her. "Monty and Jasper are still not back yet. Neither is Bellamy." Octavia said to the blonde as she helped Clarke sterilize the items she would need to do this. "It's all right. They will find somewhere to ride it out." She said as Raven came back. "One suture needle." She passed it to Clarke. "I still need something to close the wound with." She said and Octavia answered. "There's some wires on the second level I used for the tents." She said and Clarke nodded.

"Stay away from the blue wires I ran through the ceiling. I rigged to the solar cells in the roof. That means they're hot, you got that?" Raven said to Octavia who went to started climbing up the ladder and Clarke knew this was it. "I got that." The girl said and Raven turned to Clarke. "Are you ready to do this?" she said and the blonde nodded when they heard. "Hey, they're back." Monroe said it just as Bellamy came inside. "Bellamy." Octavia called for him as she got down from the ladder and two others dragged Lincoln in and dropped him on the ground. "The hell are you doing?" the younger Blake asked her brother.

"It's time to get some answers." He said looking at Finn. "You mean revenge?" Octavia said to him and Clarke already knew she had connected with Lincoln. "I mean Intel. Get him upstairs." He said and the boys started dragging him up as Clarke turned back to her patient and Raven. "Get me my mom. The faster we do this, the faster I take care of that." She said and Raven nodded and went to the radio and finally it worked and she asked for Abby explaining the situation and once again, the mom ordered to patch her through to medical.

"Sweetheart, we're ready."


	46. Watch and learn

Watch and learn

"Mom, I think I know what to do. I just need you to tell me if I am right or not. Got it?" she said and her mom answered as the image fleeted a little. "Okay. Go ahead." She said and Clarke nodded. "The blade is at a sharp upward angle between the sixth and seventh ribs. I can't tell how deep it went. I haven't removed the knife yet." She said and her mom and Jackson looked at each other and nodded. Clarke passed the moonshine to Raven who drank and sterilized her hands. "Any fluids coming out of the wound?" Abby asked but just before Clarke could answer a fight started.

"Murphy and Wells, get everyone upstairs. Only the five of us will be staying down here. Do it now." She said to the boys and they nodded and started ushering everyone upstairs and once that was done. "He feels a little warm." Charlotte said as she touched his forehead and Abby nodded. "That's alright, sweetie. Fever sometimes accompanies the trauma." Abby said and the girl nodded as Clarke returned to look at the screen. "Mom, there aren't fluids coming out." She said and the woman smiled. "That's very good. He got lucky." She said and Charlotte smiled at the boy.

"See, you are very lucky, Finn. You are going to get better." She said to him gently and the older girls smiled at her. "Mom, I need to take out the knife very carefully upwards to the left, 3 millimeters. More than that up or down and it is bad for him, right?" she asked and her mother looked at Jackson who nodded. "Exactly. You can do it." She said and Clarke nodded. "Okay. Wells, grab his shoulders, Raven get his right arm, Charlotte hold the left one and Murphy, you got the legs and hold him down as best as you can. Got it?" she said to them and they all nodded and got into position.

"Okay, ready." She said and gripped the knife steadily and he started waking up. "Finn, you can't move. Suck it in. Everyone hold on." she said and he grunted and she pulled it out, just as the dropship shook but this time no one fell down to the floor thankfully. "Everyone okay?" she asked them and they nodded. "Clarke?" her mom asked her. "We're okay and so is Finn." She said checking on him and her mother sighed relieved. "Charlotte, get the needle and the wires. Thanks boys. We got it from here." Clarke said and they nodded before moving out and up in the ladder. "You did good, Finn." Clarke said and he nodded.

"Mom, I need to finish this and check on everyone else. I will talk to you and Dad tomorrow, okay?" she said and her mother nodded. "Okay, I love you. All three of you." She said to the girls and Clarke smiled. "We all love you too. Bye." She said and Raven cut off the connection. "Here, Clarke." Charlotte said giving the needle and the wires to her and she nodded and started stitching him up. When she was about to finish, she looked at Charlotte. "Charlie, you know how to finish. Can you do this for me?" she asked her and the girl nodded.

"Okay." She said and Clarke stood up and the girl took her seat. "Are you guys sure?" Raven asked and Clarke nodded as she passed the needle to Charlotte. "She helped me and Mom on the clinic. I wouldn't do this if I wasn't sure but we have a bigger problem for me to solve right now. So wait here and help her with whatever she needs and if he has any changes, call for me." She said and Raven understood the warning to call her when the poison started working on him. She nodded. "Okay. Go." She said to the blonde and Clarke nodded and went to the ladder passing through the second level where Octavia was.

"Where you're going?" she asked and Clarke sighed. "To stop your brother from doing something stupid. What else?" she said and stopped signaling for Murphy to come with her and he got up and went after her as did Octavia. She pushed the ladder up and got up and a guy stood in her way, she just pushed him aside and went to where Bellamy was in front of the grounder as her other two companions got up there as well and she looked at Lincoln already beaten up before she turned to look at Bellamy.

"This is going to stop right now." She said firmly to him and he tried to pull her away but she shrugged him off. "How's Finn?" he asked her. "Alive. But that is not the point. The point is that we are not torturing this man. End of conversation." She said firmly and he opened the book. "Look, his people are already killing us. How many more of us have to die before you realize we are fighting a war?" he said as she looked at the drawing. "How long till you realize that there is a better way to do things? That violence is not always the answer?" she gave the book back to him.

"Clarke, we can't win against them if we don't fight." He said to her and she shook her head. "Bellamy, I don't care if you think we are super soldiers or what. I really don't but no one is going to hurt this man, not for as long as I'm still breathing. Period. I don't want to hear whatever excuse you want to give me to try and change my mind because you won't. We don't have to be at war with them at all and I am not going to let you do this. Not a cold chance in hell." She said to him just as Raven called. "Clarke, he is seizing." The girl said and Clarke sighed and looked at everyone in the room.

"He gets another scratch and I swear that you will be the ones hanging in his place, I will string you up myself. Murphy, make sure they don't touch him. Octavia, try and clean his wounds. I will be right back to check on him." She said firmly and quite scarily before she started on her down and got to where Finn was. Murphy went and stood in front of the grounder with his arms crossed as Miller tried to move forward and he turned to the boy and shook his head. "If I were you, I will listen to her. Believe me, you don't want her to get angrier or the next one needing protection will be you." He said and the boy stepped back as Octavia moved forward but was stopped by Bellamy.

"You're not getting near him." He said to her and she shrugged him off. "You don't call the shots, Clarke does." She said and went behind Murphy and started cleaning Lincoln up. "You don't really think you can stop us, do you?" Bellamy said to Murphy who only smirked. "Yes, I can." He said. "How? We're five and you're one." Miller said and all Murphy did was raise his shirt and on his belt was a gun that he picked it up. "You forget I am only one but with a gun. Who wants to try me?" he said as he crossed his arms displaying the weapon as Octavia smirked. "Nice." She said to him. "Courtesy of being friends with blondie. Now boys, let's do what she said and take a few steps back." He said and the other did that while Bellamy just looked at him.

Meanwhile downstairs, Clarke got Charlotte to hold his head and when the seizure stopped, she and Raven turned him to his side and he started drooling fluids. "Clarke, shortness of breath, fever, seizing. That is poison, right?" Charlotte said and Clarke nodded. "Yes, and there is only one way he could have gotten it. Stay here with him." She said grabbing the knife and going all the way up. She opened the hatch again and looked at Murphy. "Put the gun away, John." She said to him and he lowered it down and she went to Lincoln.

"Where is the antidote?" she said asking him. "What are you talking about?" Octavia asked. "There is poison on the knife, he must have the antidote." She said to him. "These?" Murphy grabbed the vials and gave it to her and she turned to Lincoln again. "Finn needs the antidote, please." She asked him and Bellamy moved forward. "There is one way we can get him to talk." He said and she turned to him. "We are not torturing him." She said firmly. "And you would let Finn die for that?" he asked and she shook her head. "Finn is not going to die but we are not torturing this guy and that's it." She said before she turned to Lincoln again.

"I know that your people want us dead for crashing on what I assume are your lands and that you don't have to do anything to help us, you could just let him die and us too. I know we came down and destroyed your home and I am very sorry for that, I am. But if there is a way we can have peace without the bloodshed between both our people, if there is a way to make sure we stop killing each other pointlessly, please let it start here. Help me save me friend. He has done nothing wrong." She said pleadingly as he watched her intensely.

"Octavia, help me here. You said he saved your life, right?" she asked her and the girl nodded. "Yeah, he did back in the forest. Roma's spear was meant for me and he saved my life". She explained and Clarke nodded. "My sister…" Bellamy started and Clarke looked at him. "Can make her own decisions." She turned back to the girl. "Ask him yourself, maybe he will listen to you." Clarke said giving the knife to the girl and hoping that she would get him talking or have at least the same idea she had last time. If neither happened then Clarke would get the antidote and say it was luck she found the right one.

"Hey, I know that maybe you don't understand us but please, just show us which one is it. He is our friend, please. He is my friend. Help me." she said grabbing the vials and putting them down on the floor lined up. "Just nod when it is the right one." She said and started pointing to all of them but still nothing. "Please." She asked one more time and he looked at Clarke and back at Octavia and when she pointed at the right one, he gave a small nod. She held it up to make sure and he nodded again. "Here." She offered it to Clarke.

The blonde came and grabbed it and smiled at him. "Thank you." She said to him before she gets down and Octavia turned to Bellamy. "See?" she said to him before she turned back to clean Lincoln's wounds and Murphy stepped forward. "Well, boys, now that the show is over, why don't you all get down and let us clean up the nice guy here?" he said to them and the others nodded and went down except Bellamy. "Octavia." He said to her and she shook her head. "Go down, Bellamy." She said without looking at him and he sighed before grabbing his jacket and getting down. Murphy went to close the hatch. "I am going to take a little nap, feel free to flirt with the nice looking grounder." He said sitting down and closing his eyes.

Meanwhile, Clarke gave Finn the antidote and he started to get better. "How did you get it, Clarke?" Charlotte asked and she smiled. "I didn't. Octavia did." She said as Raven smiled from the other side of Finn. "How?" she asked and Clarke smile got bigger. "Well, Charlie, let's just say that the heart wants what the heart wants. Got it?" she said and it took the girl a few seconds before she smiled and nodded. "Got it." She said to her. "Why don't you go upstairs and try to sleep? Raven and I will watch him." She said and the girl nodded and did as told.

"Octavia has cemented her place as the first grounder pounder." Raven said and Clarke nodded. "She did." They laughed. "Did she really just ask and he gave it to her or did she, you know?" Raven said and Clarke understood the unspoken part of the question and nodded. "Yes, I guess that between her and me stopping Bellamy from torturing him, he agreed to help us." She said and Raven smiled. "Cheers to that." She raised her bottle of moonshine and Clarke did the same as they drank.

Soon enough, it was day again and Finn was looking a lot better and the rest of the 100 went out to start cleaning the camp and putting everything back in place and when she woke up, Clarke decided to leave Raven looking over Finn and stepped outside as the sun shined in the sky and she walked to where Bellamy was. "We will get it cleaned up." He said and she nodded and walked past him but he grabbed her hand stopping her. "Clarke, who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things." He said and she shook her head.

"They may be different but they are not opposites, Bellamy. You know why? Because there are some lines that we shouldn't cross especially if it is not necessary. Torturing him would have accomplished nothing. I bet you anything he wouldn't have said a word and Finn would have died and he would have more reasons to want us dead. Sometimes, kindness can achieve more than what you believe violence can and to be a good leader is to know when it is time to use one and the other and with him, kindness was the way." She said to him and turned to leave but turned around to look at him and say.

"It's not easy being in charge which is why I do it." And then she left and he stood there.


	47. Another mission complete

One more mission complete

Meanwhile in the ark, Jaha, advised by Kane and Jake, decided to communicate to the people the good news about Earth, their kids and their future. He asked for Sinclair to make the connection to the entire Ark and from the control room and with the support of Kane, Jake, Abby and Callie, he started the video transmission. "People of the Ark, many questions have come up in your minds in these past couple of days regarding the future of our people and I decided that it is time you know the truth." He said as everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to their Chancellor's message.

"The life support on the Ark is failing. The oxygen levels are decreasing and unfortunately, there was nothing our engineers could do to stop it and believe me, they tried very hard." He said and let the information sink in before continuing. "I kept the crisis from you. I lied to protect you but I lied however the deception ends here. Two weeks ago, a dropship was launched containing 100 kids who were in lock up." He said and stopped. "They were sent to the Earth to see if it was survivable because that was our people's last hope." He said as everyone around the Ark started talking to each other.

"But, now you know the whole truth however there is one truth that stands above all others. Earth is survivable." He said. "The 100 made contact with us via radio and they are okay and living on the ground which means that we can also go down to Earth. It means mankind is going home. This afternoon, I have declassified the menace of all council meetings for you to look at but all I ask is for your trust in me and our council one more time and soon, we will be home." Jaha said and the transmission was finished.

"That was a good speech, my friend." Jake said to him and Jaha sighed. "But I don't know if it will be enough. In the meantime, are all the other council members in the room?" he asked Kane who nodded. "Then, we must go, we have something important to talk about." He said to them and moved out of the room. "What do you guys think it is?" Callie asked her friends. "Exodus. What else could it be?" Abby said and the other two nodded. "We should go." Jake said and they agreed. "Okay, I will wait for you guys here. Maybe the kids will make contact again." Callie said to them and they nodded, Kane gave her a kiss and followed the couple.

Once they were in the meeting room sitting down in their designated seats, Jaha started. "As Chancellor, I must announce that we have good news and bad news." He said as they paid him attention. "The good news is that we are going to the ground and the bad news is that not all of us are." He said and everyone was surprised, including Abby and Jake who looked at each other. Kane was only waiting for the right moment to step in with his plan. "It is a problem we were supposed to fix in a hundred years." Jaha said.

"What problem?" Jake asked, not even he knew what it was and Jaha looked at him. "There are two thousand five hundred and fifty seven people on this Ark and there are only enough drop ships to carry seven hundred. We are on the Titanic and there aren't enough lifeboats." He said as everyone absorbed the information, Abby being the first one to speak up. "So you're saying we will have to sacrifice what? One thousand five hundred and fifty seven people?" she asked and he sighed. "There is nothing I would hate more than to do that but it's our only chance." Jaha said and that was his cue.

"There is one more thing we can do, sir, to avoid that." Kane said and everyone looked at him. "And what would that be councilor?" Jaha asked and Kane prepared himself. "We could bring the Ark down to the ground." He said and everyone was shocked, Jaha including. "What?" he asked and Kane nodded. "There is a way to bring the Ark down if we split into the original stations. Alpha, Mecha, Farm, Agro and so on. We would be able to maximize the number of our people by a lot more doing that then if we simply sent the drop ships. I am sure it can be done, right Jake?" Kane asked the engineer.

"It is possible to be done but it would be risky, not all the stations would survive." He said pensive. "But the drop ships are also not a certainty of success, are they?" he asked and the engineer shook his head. "No, they are not fail proof either." He said and Kane nodded. "So in either case, we are looking at a fifty-fifty chance of survival. But one option will mean the survival of more of our people than the other and we wouldn't have to sacrifice anyone ourselves." Kane said as they all thought about what he said.

"Well, it is certainly a better option than the one we have." Abby said and he smiled. "It is but I would like to suggest that we sent one drop ship first. The kids there are in need of help and we could send some supplies and more people to help them against the grounders while we prepare the Ark." He said and they nodded. "It's a good idea." Another councilor said and the others agreed as well. "I agree to both suggestions." Jake said and it was Abby's turn. "I agree as well and would like to be on the first drop ship." She said but Kane shook his head.

"Abby, I know you want to go because of Clarke, believe me we all miss her too but you and Jackson are invaluable as are Jake and Sinclair with the engineers. Let others go first and you can help us bring the rest of our people down. Clarke will understand. I am sure." He said and Jaha nodded. "Kane is right, we need you and your husband both if we are going to pull this off. And I also agree to both suggestions of Councilor Kane so let's start preparing and let the parents make contact with their kids." He said and everyone nodded and once again, Kane did his part and now he needed to make sure that Diana Sydney got what was hers.

Three days went by after that. In camp, they were able to clean the mess the storm made and were able to hunt meat and collect berries and nuts that Clarke knew would cause the delusions but she let the kids collect them anyways. Kids have been talking to their parents in the same system she created before and now, the council found themselves in the meeting room talking to Clarke. "So you captured a grounder?" Jake asked herand Clarke nodded grimly. "Yes, he was the one who attacked one of us. Some of the boys went after him and brought him back. He is currently chained up to avoid more injuries. We are still deciding on what to do with him." She said and they nodded.

"Can he provide any insight on how you can survive winter?" Jaha asked and she shook her head. "No, but we are doing everything we can to prepare here, gathering nuts and berries, curing meat, digging for roots but the truth is we'll freeze before we starve." She said to them and it was the truth. "There is good news on that front. According to civil defense plans from before the war, there's an old emergency aid depot not far from the landing site. Here are the coordinates." Kane showed her the same ones as before and she already knew how to get there.

"In addition to supplies, it could provide shelter for the hundred and for the citizens coming down from the Ark." Jaha said to her and she nodded. "It's definitely worth looking. The dropship is coming tomorrow?" She asked and they nodded. "Okay I think we can hold on until then." She said and her parents spoke up. "We would like a moment with our daughter, please." Abby said and the others nodded and left leaving her parents alone in the council room. "How are you sweetie?" her mom asked her and she smiled. "I'm fine Mom. Thanks for the help the other day. You helped me save his life." She said and Abby nodded.

"Is everything going okay with you and your friends?" her Dad asked her and she nodded. "Yeah, since I was elected leader, they kind of became my council so we're good." She said and they smiled. "I knew you could do it, kiddo." He said to her and she nodded. "I'm trying my best. Thanks, Dad." She said before she made them a question. "Are you coming on the first drop ship?" she asked and they shook their head. "The council decided that your mom and I would both be needed to get everyone down. That is unless you wants us to go." He said to her and she shook her head.

"They are right. We have Raven and Monty in engineering and Charlotte and I with medical covered, we can hold on a little longer. Now guys, I need to go check the place you suggested so just tell me who is next to talk to their parents and I will see you guys tomorrow." She said and they smiled. "Someone named Dax, I think?" Her mother said and she knew what was going to happen in his video chat but she knew it would play out as she planned so she nodded. "I will see you later and can you guys do me a favor, when is Charlotte's turn, can you be there for her?" she asked and they smiled.

"You didn't have to ask. We miss her as well and we will be here." Her father said and she nodded. "Okay, bye. I love you." She removed the headphones once they said those words back to her and walked out of the tent where they put the radio in and went straight to the meat group and there he was. "Dax, you're up." She said and he nodded as he put the rabbit he was skinning down and moved past her and she looked at his back. He had no idea what was coming for him, she thought as she moved to the drop ship in search for Bellamy who she found having an argument with Octavia much like before.

"Bellamy." She called out to him and he turned to leave. "The answer is still no, I am not talking to Jaha." He said moved past her but she grabbed his arm. "Yes, you will be talking to him just like we agreed before, remember?" she said to him and he sighed. "But relax, it's not why I am here. The Ark found some old records that show a supply depot not too far from here." She said and he crossed his arms. "What kind of supplies?" he asked and she smiled. "The kind that might give us a chance to live through winter. I'm gonna go and check it out, I could use back up." She said to him.

"Why are you asking me?" he said and she looked at him. "Because you and I have matters to discuss and the others are working and you are being lazy." She said and he shook his head with a smirk. "Okay, I will get my stuff, meet you in ten." He said to her and she nodded and he looked at Octavia before he left the dropship. Clarke went to the younger Blake. "Did he forbid you to see the grounder?" she asked and Octavia looked at her and nodded. "Well, if you really want to see him, just ask Murphy, he will help you get there." She said and the girl smiled before the blonde turned, left and went to check on Finn.

"How are you feeling?" she asked checking his wound as Raven watched. "Weak, bored…" he said and winced. "Grateful to be alive." He said and the girls smiled. "Well, if you want to stay that way, you should rest." She said and Raven nodded. "He will." She said and Clarke smiled. "Well, I am going to be out of camp today so I will send Charlotte to change his bandages, okay?" she said to Raven who nodded. "Wait, where are you going?" he asked worriedly. "It's an assignment from the Ark, nothing you need to worry about." She said standing up. "It's not safe out there." He said and she shook her head. "I will be fine. Ray, You know what to do." She said and the girl nodded just as Bellamy peaked inside the tent calling for Clarke and Finn rolled his eyes.

Clarke left the tent and went to see Bellamy with the rations and she stopped him. "Stop. You're not going to run away." She said coming in front of him. "Who said I am?" he asked her and she rolled her eyes. "That's a lot of rations for a day trip. Seriously Bellamy, don't you remember what we talked not a week ago? About owning your shit like a man? Stop running away like a scared little kid and face Jaha. I will be there with you if you want and I promise you we will get him to forgive you. Just trust me, will you? It's not as hard you make out to be." She said and he sighed before he noticed Octavia coming out of the drop ship.

"Yeah, he is not the only one who I am not so sure is willing to forgive me for what I done or said." He said looking at his sister and Clarke sighed. "Running away won't help you fix your problems with him or with her. It never does. All it accomplishes it's to make things worse than they are. Now, put the exceeding rations back and let's go. We don't have time for me to keep on babysitting you." She said and walked away and he smirked before he pulled the rations out of his bag and put them back on their place and went after her.


	48. Surrounded by idiots

Some idiots just make it easy for her

Clarke and Bellamy were walking through the woods and she could feel and hear Dax's presence behind them, of course she didn't before but with her senses more alert and trained, she could hear his steps despite the noise Bellamy made which was something that could come in handy. "So you really think you can get him to be lenient? Come on, Clarke. I shot the man. He is not just going to forgive and forget." He said and she sighed. "Yes because it's not about that. Bellamy, you're what 21?" she asked and he was confused by the question.

"I'm 23." He said and she nodded. "You're the oldest one between us and you still haven't learned that when we make mistakes, we own up to them and their consequences and try to be better next time, it's what it means to be a good person and a responsible adult. You're not a little kid anymore who gets to blame the world for what happens to him. You're in control of your life and what you do with it. That means avoiding Jaha is the coward thing to do and don't you think I am going to be here to pat your head because I'm not, neither will anyone else." She said as they came closer to where the depot was.

"We screw it, we apologize for it, we deal with it and we learn from it. That is what it means to be a grown up and you only have the first one down and are failing miserably at the rest and that, that is not okay, buddy." She said as she pushed forward. "What are you? A cliché walking book?" he said to her and she turned to him making him stop to look at her. "No but I used to be you until I realized that I was wrong and changed and if I did so can you and talking to Jaha when we get back is the first step in the right direction." She said and resumed walking.

"Be grateful I am still giving you a choice." She said to him. "We should split up and cover more ground." He said to her but she shook her head as she felt herself stepping on the door and clearing it up to see the handles. "Won't need it. Here, I think I found it. Help me, I think is rusted shut." She said to him and he nodded, grabbing his axe. "Watch your foot." He said to her and hit the handle a couple of times and when they pulled, it was opened. She walked down first and he was right behind her as she searched for a flashlight she put on her bag among other things.

"Here." She said handing it one to him and grabbed another for herself. "Think this place hasn't been touched by the war?" he asked her as they looked around a little and she sighed. "A girl can dream." She said to him and started moving through the place and once again they saw the skeleton. "Hell of a place to die." Bellamy said and she nodded. "You come and live down here, Jaha. This place is disgusting, for real." She said to herself as they continued moving forward to where she knew they would find the guns.

"Anything left here is ruined." Bellamy said to her and she nodded. "They must have distributed most of the supplies before the last bombs went off." She said as they split up and started searching. Bellamy found some light sticks and she found the blankets again. "I found blankets." She said to him and he grunted. "Excited about a couple of blankets?" he said grumpily and she looked at him. "You complain about it when your ass is freezing and you found yourself warm thanks to them, okay McGrumpy?" she said as he chuckled at her moved forward.

"How about other things we need like a canteen or a med kit or a decent freaking tent? We are making do with scraps, Clarke. We will not survive with only that. And I am not grumpy, I am being realistic." He said coming to check on the oil barrels and as he kicked them and the sound of the guns hitting the ground stopped him and she sighed waiting for him to find them as he went to check the noise. "Oh my God." He said and she walked to him as he lifted a rifle with a smile on his face and she tried to look surprise but all she could think was that the end of first stage was coming soon.

Back in camp, Octavia had asked for Murphy's help to get near the ground and he did, he threatened Miller, just a little, it turned out not to be that hard to do and soon enough the boy cracked, he then left her alone and since then she has gone upstairs and out a couple of times as Murphy observed, she must be having quite a few romantic moments cleaning his wounds. Wells from what he could see was with the meat crew and Jessica with the nut crew and the looks they would give each other were disgustingly cute but he was happy that his friend got over Clarke and found someone for himself.

Charlotte had gone to check on Finn and that was why he saw Raven coming towards him. "It's going to start soon." She said when she got closer and he looked at her. "What are you talking about?" he asked since he hadn't been here in camp for any of this. "Did you eat the nuts?" she asked and he shook her head. "Clarke specifically told me not to, that it would be bad if I did and well when she says that I usually just do as she tells me to." He said to her and Raven nodded. "She is right and you did good, I didn't eat any too. The nuts cause hallucinations. Look." She said pointing at Octavia with Jasper giving him a stick and getting him to sit down.

"O is going to use the nuts to get everyone high so she can help Lincoln escape and Finn is going to help her." she said to him and he nodded. "And we make sure that it happens without a hitch?" he asked and she nodded. "Exactly so keep your eyes and ears open and we help if she needs otherwise stay to the OGTL." She said, meaning original timeline and he nodded as they saw Charlotte walking out of the tent and smiling at them before she moved away. "I got to go check on him. You'll be fine here by yourself?" Raven said and he nodded smirking. "I think I am going to have a lot of fun watching this." He said and she chuckled. "Of course you will. You are a certified jackass." She said and moved as he continued laughing and watching.

Meanwhile back with Clarke and Bellamy, they spent some time cleaning the guns from the oil, time in which Clarke saw Bellamy eating the nuts although she pretended to do as well but never really eating them. Then he made the same practice target and offered to teach her. "This changes everything," He said finishing putting it up, "No more running from spears. Ready to be a badass, Clarke?" he came to her popping some nuts into his mouth as she grabbed the rifle. "I am one so shut up Blake." She said to him and he smirked. "Now, I know we need this to defend ourselves and we will bring it back to camp but this needs to be organized." She said to him.

"We're lucky the rifles were packed in grease. The fact that they survived means we're not sitting ducks anymore. You need to learn how to do this." He said to her and she just smirked deciding to play with him. "So I just hold it on my shoulder?" she said and he nodded. "Yeah, just a little higher now, that end." He said and she heard him getting flustered by their closeness and she secretly smiled, it was fun teasing him. "Yeah, that's good. Watch and learn." He said grabbing one and coming to position.

He aimed and tried to fire but nothing. He tries again and nothing happens. "Still watching, McGenius." She said smirking and he sighed looking at her. "My bullets are duds. Try yours." He said and she smiled before changing place with him and lifted up her rifle and looked at him. "You watch and learn." She said, aimed and shot right in the middle one, two, three times. All in the same spot and turned back to see his shocked face. "So, badass enough for you Mr. Showoff?" she said and he looked at her. "Where did you learn to shoot?" he asked and she lied. "I didn't. Guess is a natural talent. Your turn." She said and gave him the spot and he shot too but more to the right than hers.

"So were you really going to leave, Octavia? Just like that?" she asked him and he turned to her. "Octavia hates me. She would have been fine, maybe even glad I left." He said walking to her. "You know that is not true. She loves you, she is just angry with you which you make very easy for it to happen." She said as he put the rifle back. "What I know is that I shot the Chancellor. They're gonna kill me, Clarke. Best-case scenario, they lock me up with the grounder for the rest of my life and there is no way that I'm giving Jaha the satisfaction, okay? So drop it. I need some air." He said and walked out and Clarke nodded. Now all she had to do was wait.

Back in camp, Raven was taking care of Finn when Monty got inside the tent. "Is the moon here?" he said and she laughed at him. "What?" she asked. "I can't change the tide if the moon won't cooperate. It's basic physics." He said to them as Finn looked at her and she shrugged her shoulders. Murphy was right, this was funny. The boy left and she followed him putting on her jacket and saw some having the time of their life and she could see Murphy sitting down and laughing at them and she smiled just as Finn came out of the tent.

"What the hell is this?" he asked her and she looked at him. "The nuts, they must be making everyone have hallucinations. We need to take care of them. Murphy, come and help us, asshole." She called to the boy and he stood up and went over to them. "Why must you be so mean and stop me from watching this very interesting turn of events?" he said laughing. "Because Clarke left us to take care of them and we will. Now, split up and just deal with the craziness as best as you can and burn whatever is left of those damn nuts for Christ's sake." She said and the boys nodded.

It was already dark when Finn was helping burn the nuts and Raven was stopped by Connor who hugged her and pulled back. "Tell me again." He said clearly still very high on the nuts. "You're the most beautiful broom in a broom closet of brooms." She said containing her smile and he smiled at her and hugged her as a crying girl passed behind them and Finn sighed. "I got this one." He said and went after the girl but Raven kept her eyes on him and saw the moment where Lincoln stopped in front of him and they shared a look before Finn nodded indicating for him to leave and he did.

Raven turned away and saw Murphy who was taking care of Monty look at her and she nodded and mouthed Lincoln. He saw and nodded before turning his attention back to the talkative boy and she turned back to Connor who was still hugging her as Finn came back and started burning the nuts again as if he hadn't just let the grounder they captured and that almost killed him leave camp. Raven just hoped that Clarke was having a better time handling the mess with Bellamy and Dax than she was here.

And she was. Clarke pretended to be hallucinating when she first heard Dax come in and grab a rifle, one she had prepared for him specifically and heard him telling her to stay inside as he left. So as soon as she heard his footsteps getting fainter and fainter until the noise disappeared, she went searching for Bellamy and it didn't take long before she found him and found Dax watching him too. All she needed to do was wait for the right moment and she saw the moment Bellamy's hallucinations stopped and he came face to face with Dax pointing a rifle to him.

"Nothing personal." He tried to shoot but it didn't work and she saw Bellamy reach for a gun that didn't exist and as Dax was about to shoot him, that was when she stepped in. "Put it down, Dax." She said as she pointed her hand gun at him and the two boys looked at her and he pointed the riffle at her. "Should have stayed down there, Clarke. I tried not to kill you but Shumway said no witnesses." The boy said and she looked at him. "What is he talking about?" she asked and Bellamy answered. "Shumway set it up, he gave me the gun to shoot Chancellor." Bellamy said to her.

"Walk away now and I won't kill you." Dax said and she smirked. "You know I could understand him choosing Bellamy but not you and you know why?" she asked and he looked at her as did Bellamy and she smirked at him. "Because at least Bellamy would know that the bullets on that riffle are duds." She said and the guy looked surprised and tried shooting at her but nothing happened. "See what I mean? Idiot. But this one though, this one is not. It works just fine." She shot near his feet and he jumped back dropping the rifle.

"Bellamy, can you hear me?" she said and he nodded. "Get up and come here." She said and he tried getting up but just ended up crawling towards her as she continued pointing her gun at the other boy. "Hey, you don't want to do this." Dax said fearing for his life now and she nodded. "You're right and don't worry, I am not going to kill you. I will banish you from the camp, you come anywhere near it and then I will kill you. Are we clear?" she said and he didn't answered so she shot him in the arm and he cried out in pain. "I said are we clear?" she asked him again and he nodded gripping his bleeding arm.

"Now, run or the next one I will put in between your eyebrows." She said and he nodded and started running away. "Clarke." Bellamy said but she shushed him and he stayed quiet as she listened for the boy's steps and heard him running until she couldn't hear him anymore and she sighed and turned to Bellamy. "Come on. We have some guns to gather and a camp to get back to." She said to him and helped him up and helped him walk all the way back to the depot to gather the weapons.


	49. Necessary evil

Guns, a necessary evil

Clarke helped Bellamy sit down and looked over to see if there were any wounds but luckily the wounds only came last time and she sighed seating in front of him. "How did you know?" he asked her and she looked at him. "I didn't. When the hallucination stopped, it was in time for me to see him leaving and then when I checked, I noticed he ended up taking the rifle you were using and well I just followed him and you know the rest." She lied and he nodded believing her. "What did you see?" he asked.

"My Dad and my cell on the Ark. You?" she didn't lie, it was what she saw the last time, she just didn't specify. "Jaha. My mom." He said to her and she nodded, it was different this time for him. "Well it is safe to say that we have gone nuts." She joked and he laughed and so did she for a while before she turned serious. "Jaha won't kill you or imprison you, not if you give him Shumway." She said and he shook his head. "It won't be enough, Clarke." He said to her and she sighed. "Hey, haven't I given you enough reason to trust me already?" she said to him and he nodded.

"Exactly. So do it, trust me. I've known Jaha my whole life, I know how to play him and I will get you a pardon." She said firmly and he stared at her. "Does Wells know?" he asked her. "What? That you shot his Dad? Yeah, I told him but I also explained why you did it and I guess he understood. We all have done things to protect our family, he doesn't hate you by the way and he would help you if you ever think you need it, he told me so himself." She said to him and he scoffed. "He did?" he asked not believing her and she nodded.

"Yes, he did. Wells is a forgiving guy, he doesn't really hate anyone. He gets angry like he did with you but he never hated you and even if he did, which he doesn't, I am still his best friend, if I asked, he would help you but let's leave him as a second option, for now trust me and you will be okay. Now, can you help me with the guns? I can't carry them all by myself." She said and they started working cleaning them. "Hey Clarke, can I ask you a question?" he said as they continued working and she looked up at him.

"Sure, go right ahead." She said and he looked at her. "Why did you try to help me and Octavia that night of the party? You didn't even know us." He asked her and she shrugged, she couldn't tell him the whole truth but she could tell him a few things. "Well, I didn't know your sister or that she was a second child, though we had bumped into each other a few times and I saw you with Kane more times than not," She said and he nodded before she continued, "Anyway, Octavia seemed like a nice person, a little naïve but I didn't think she was dangerous and when Shumway who I know is a dickhead started harassing you guys, I just figured I could help." She finished shrugging.

"Thank you." He said to her and she looked at him. "Even if it didn't help you or her that much?" She asked and he nodded at her. "Even if it didn't help, you still tried, that's more than anyone else would have done in your position. And you tried not only with Octavia, but you're still trying to help me be better as well and I am thankful for that and for you saving my life just now." He said to her and she smiled at him.

"You're welcome. You're a good person, Bellamy. You just need to stop making bad decisions. If you do that, you'll be fine. And if you need me to remind you of the asshole you are acting as every once in a while, well, I will gladly do it until you don't need me to do it anymore. But remember, I am not here to pat your head when you screw up. You screw up and you pay for it, that is how life is, here on the ground as well so keep that in mind and think more with your head and less with your heart some times. It might help you." She said and he nodded

They stayed quiet after that, finishing cleaning it up and tying as many rifles and getting as much ammo as they could which was pretty much the same amount as last time before they set on their way back to their camp. Clarke keeping an eye out, just in case Dax decided to be stupid and try to attack them as well but with a bullet in his arm and without a weapon with him besides his knife, she doubted he would come back and she was glad that he helped her get that part of her mission covered.

It was an hour later when the two of them were getting closer to camp when they both heard Miller's scream that the grounder was gone. Bellamy looked at her and they just walked faster and through the gates as they saw everyone gathered around the center of camp. "What if he brings other grounders back?" a guy said. "They'll kill us all. Or worse." A girl said before Bellamy spoke up. "Let the grounders come." He said as they let the bags down. "We've been afraid of them for far too long, and why? Because of their knives and spears." He said to them and they nodded at his words.

"I don't know about you but I'm done being afraid." He said as he looked at Clarke and they both showed the guns they brought with and there were some cheers but she could see Finn's disappointed face and it wouldn't be the beginning of that. "These are weapons and not toys. And when the others come, we will need to give them up but for now they're going to help keep us safe." She said to them. "There is plenty more where these came from. Tomorrow, we start training and if the grounders come, we will be ready for them." Bellamy said.

"But I don't want any of you to go looking for fight just because we have these now. We will use them for protection, not to attack. They haven't done anything yet so we won't either and I don't want anyone shooting without a reason, we don't have bullets to waste so unless under direct attack from the grounders or with an order from me, fingers off the trigger. If you can't handle the gun or follow orders, then you can't have it. Is that clear?" she said firmly and everyone nodded. "Good, Murphy and Raven. Distribute the weapons and the clips. Bellamy and I have business to do." She said and the boy nodded and Bellamy looked at her confused.

"We are talking to Jaha but for now go and talk to your sister." She said to him and moved away as her friends came forward and started organizing everything. They made a line for the distribution and on her way to the tent of the radio, she saw Charlotte in line and went to her. "You don't get a rifle, young lady." She said pulling the girl away. "But Clarke, I need to protect myself and help everyone too." She said and Clarke nodded. "I know and as much as I would like to keep you away from all of this, I can't. But you're not old enough for that but in the meantime." Clarke said pulling something from her bag and kneeling down.

"This is a holster." She said as she helped secure it on the girl's leg, clicking them into place and on her belt before she pulled out a hand gun and put it in place. "Now, I am trusting you with this but Charlotte, promise you won't use on anyone in this camp and with the grounders, only if it is necessary. You promise?" Clarke asked and the girl smiled and nodded seriously. "I promise you can trust me, Clarke. I won't play with it and only use for necessary protection like you said." She said and Clarke smiled.

"Okay, now pay attention." She said as she started explaining how the gun worked and the girl paid serious attention and nodding understanding what Clarke was saying and tried it to do it herself and did correctly. "Very well, now put the lock and put it back." She said and the girl did so and put the gun back on the holster and Clarke stood up and hugged the girl who hugged her back. "Be careful with this and with yourself. We can't lose you, Charlie." She said and the girl nodded before Clarke pulled back as she saw Bellamy talking to Octavia.

"Go." She said shoving the girl playfully and Charlotte went running to Wells and Jessica and she went inside the tent, started the connection and asked Sinclair to get the Chancellor and he did that. It didn't take long for Jaha to appear and Clarke explained to him the situation and he nodded agreeing as she went out and called for Bellamy. He said something to Octavia and came towards her and she squeezed his shoulder. "It will be okay." She said meaning both with his sister and with Jaha and he nodded understanding the message before they both went in and sat down, grabbing the headphones.

"Mr. Blake. I have been wanting to talk to you for some time now." The older man said and Clarke took the front once again. "I know I could try and tell you that Bellamy is important for everyone here and that I trust him which I do but that wouldn't work with you so I'm going to make it very simple for you, Jaha." She said firmly as they both looked at her. "Either you pardon Bellamy for his crimes against you or he won't say a word about who is the traitor that wants you dead and we both know that is all you care about. So you see, it's quite simple. What do you say? Do we have a deal or not?" she said and Bellamy was surprised before he smirked and looked at Jaha and waited.

He shifted closer to the screen. "Bellamy Blake, you're pardoned for your crimes." He said and they smirked. "Now, tell me who gave you the gun." He asked and Bellamy looked at Clarke who nodded. "Commander Shumway, sir. He told me that if I didn't, he had someone in the drop ship who could kill my sister before they even came to the ground." He said and the man went back on his seat. "And I guess that when he found out we could talk and tell you the truth, he interrupted one of the parents meeting and sent a kid named Dax to kill Bellamy to shut him up for good." Clarke said to him and Jaha nodded.

"Thank you both for your cooperation." He said to them and Clarke nodded. "I will send for Wells if you wish to speak with him." She said to the man and he nodded. "Yes, please." He said and she took the head phones off as Bellamy did the same and she noticed Jaha speaking with someone in the council room, probably the guards ordering them to arrest Shumway and she motioned for Bellamy to leave and when they got outside, he turned to her. "Thank you and just so you know, I trust you too." He said and she nodded smiling. "Finally. Now, go get some rest, I will get Wells." She said and went on her way and so did he.

In the Ark, Kane made his way with a few guards to where he knew Shumway would be. He was in the room when Clarke was speaking to the Chancellor and he was proud of the way she took charge of the situation. Once she was done, Jaha sent him to get the Commander and Kane left immediately and as he came in front of the guard being cuffed, he said. "You're disgrace." The guard looked at him defiantly. "I'm fighting for what I believe in." He said and Marcus came closer to him and whispered on his ear.

"Diana won't win." He said and he saw the man looked shocked before he grabbed a stick from the guard and hit him knocking him out and looked at the guards. He knew Diana went to kill Shumway last time so he was not taking chances with that again. "Straight to floating. Get his uniform there." Kane said as the guards nodded and picked the man up and he turned around leaving them to finish the job and he walked away. It was coming. In three days, it would be Unity Day and Diana would pay for murdering his mother last time. He would not let her win, not again and he was counting down the minutes.

Back in camp, Clarke went inside the tent to check on Finn and his wound. "Lay down." She instructed and he did so as she lifted up his shirt. "Guns? Really?" he asked her and she nodded. "Guns, really. We need them to be prepared in case of retaliation for taking one of them." She said getting the bandage off. "Yeah, our ancestors wanted to be prepared too so they built bombs." Finn said and she looked at him. "Rifles are not the same as nukes, Finn." She said. "In Bellamy's hands, they are. Come on Clarke, you can't predict what he is going to do." He said to her as last time.

"They are not on his hands, Finn. They are on mine and I am not going to let him do anything I don't approve of besides even though you don't like him and even though he may be a jerk most of the time, we need him." She said to him as he stared at her. "The grounder saved Octavia's life and Bellamy brought him back here and tried to torture him." He said and she nodded. "But he didn't because I didn't let him and in the end, bringing him here saved your life." She said and he propped himself on his elbows. "I know." He said and she stopped him.

"I trust him, Finn." She said and he looked at her. "You can't be serious." He said and she nodded. "I am." She said and he sighed. "Clarke, you are letting Bellamy lead us down on a dangerous road." He said to her and she shook her head. "No, we're not. Look Finn, I want a world where we don't have to fight with the grounders too, believe me I do more so than you but until they agree with that as well and stop attacking us if we even try to leave camp, then I will do what I have to do to keep us safe and he will help me do that. I don't trust him like I trust Murphy or Wells but I do trust him and unlike you, he trusts me too. I will check on you tomorrow." She said to him and finished with the bandage leaving the tent.


	50. Best Unity Day Ever I

Best Unity Day ever, part 1

This was it, this was the day. Clarke woke up from a beautiful dream she had with Lexa, checked her father's watch and saw that it was afternoon and that she slept through the morning so she quickly put on her boots and jacket and walked out to see everyone working about and Raven finishing to get the radio outside so everyone could watch the transmission from the Ark. She went inside the drop ship to check on the guns and to think about her plans. If everything went correctly, this was the day she would meet Anya for the first time and to be honest, she was more than a little nervous.

Not only because the woman was scary and packed a mean right hook but because the last time she saw her, they were shot by the guards and Anya died before she could get back to Lexa like they planned and Clarke knew she would never let the woman she loves loses her mentor and friend again. Anya was going to survive even if Clarke had to kidnap her to do it. She knew later on how much Anya had meant to Lexa and how much her loss affected the brunette and she didn't want her to go through that again so this time things would be different on that front, she would make sure of it.

She overhead Jaha's speech sounding on camp, she sighed, it was a pretty speech but an empty one and walked outside just in time to see Finn standing there looking at the people watching the man on screen, frowning. "Woke up on the wrong side of bed? Why the frown?" She asked Finn smirking and he sighed. "Unity Day is a lie. The Ark only came together after the thirteenth station was blown out of the Sky. Just not the version of history we like to tell each other at parties." He said too her and she froze for a second at the mention of Polaris and Becca's station and what happened to it.

Who would have thought that the 13th station would hold so many secrets from them even after being destroyed? She certainly didn't and certainly not the secrets she found out. The grounders and the Arkers were tied together by their shared history more than they could ever know, which made her wonder what would happen if both people knew about it? What would they reaction be? Would they still try to kill each other or would they reach an understanding? What was she thinking? Of course, they would still hate each other. She chuckled on that but she sucked it back up and looked back at Finn.

"The Unity Day story may not be pretty and might actually sick but in the end, it gives people hope and peace came out of that violence." She said and he turned to her and said lowly. "Yeah but did there have to be violence at all?" he asked and she knew he wasn't talking about Polaris anymore but rather the grounders and the guns. "Finn, I'm not discussing the guns with you again. I made a choice and I am sticking to it. End of story." She said to him and he sighed. "But Clarke…" he was saying but luckily she was saved from that conversation by Jasper who interrupted. "Yeah! Monty strikes again! Hey! Call this batch Unity Juice. Who's thirsty?" he came out with a huge container filled with moonshine and Clarke walked towards it, not with the intention of drinking, of course.

Then, everyone started crowding around Jasper and asking for some of the drink with their cups being filled, one after one. Even the guards left their posts for it too and she let that go only because of what she knew would happen thanks to that and it was as she predicted, Octavia escaping and Finn watching her and Clarke knew what that would lead to so she stayed quiet and turned back to the screen to watch whatever bullshit Jaha was saying and noticed Finn doing the same. "To our sons and daughters on Earth listening to this message, we will see you soon." He said to them.

Back at the Ark, Jaha spoke being watched by everyone else. "The first Exodus ship will launch in under sixty-hours carrying the reinforcements that you need so stay strong. Help is on the way." He said to them and Jake and Abby watched him as did Kane though he wasn't paying attention since he was looking for Diana waiting for her to show up so he could start his plan and she didn't disappoint when he saw her approach Callie and he tensed. He knew exactly what she was thinking she accomplished but he was ten steps ahead of her.

"Kane, is everything okay?" Abby asked him and he turned to them and nodded. "Yes, but there is something I need to do." He said to them before he started moving through the crowd without drawing attention to him and he came up behind the two just as Diana turned to leave. "Are you going to miss the best part, Diana?" he said and she was a little taken aback but smiled. "Yes, I have some work to do but I hope you enjoy it." She said and he stepped in front of her again. "No way. As council member, I relieve you from duty so you can watch it with us." He said grabbing her arm and pulling her back to where Callie was.

"Sweetie, is something wrong?" Callie asked him and he shook his head smiling at his wife as the blonde woman tried to get rid of his grip on her arm but he just tightened it. "Yes, Diana here was going to work and was going to miss all of this, I couldn't let her." He said smiling and turning to the woman who was looking around in worry. "Is there something wrong, Diana? You look worried." He asked waiting. "I really need to go back to work." She said to him and he nodded. "Well, if you insist so much." He let go of her arm and she went out running.

"What was that, Marcus?" Callie asked him seriously and he turned to her smiling. "The confirmation I needed. I have to go back to my place, I see you soon. I love you." He gave her a kiss and went back to his place as the Chancellor cut his speech short and he waited until the celebration and the pageant was close to starting before he made his move, he knew he needed to stall long enough to get Diana so desperate that she would to go steal the exodus ship to launch so he waited patiently for the pageant to go by and once he was confident that things could go at normal time from here, he decided it was time.

Kane believed that by now Diana must have realized he knew and that her plan with the bombs didn't work since Kane knew where she planted them and got rid of that problem so he figured she would be looking towards stealing the Exodus ship and without care of what would be left of the Ark along the way so he moved to where the Chancellor was. "Sir, we need to talk." Kane said on Jaha's ear and the man looked at him and saw his face and how serious he looked and nodded. "Very well. Come with me." Kane said and Jaha nodded as Kane passed the Griffins and got them to come with him as well to the council room.

"We are safe here." He said as he closed the door. "Kane, you have been acting weird for some time now. What the hell is going on, man?" Jake asked and Kane grabbed a bag and started pulling out the bombs he found and the other three looked shocked. "Don't worry, I disabled all of them, it's perfectly safe." He said and Jaha stepped forward. "Kane, explain yourself now." He said firmly and the man nodded. "When Bellamy revealed that it was Shumway that was behind the attempt on your life, I wasn't surprised." He said to them.

"When you were shot and Abby went to save you, he came to me to tell me that as acting Chancellor I should push forward for the culling." He explained to them. "But you were not the acting Chancellor, Jake was," Abby said and he nodded, "Yes, and I warned him that the culling would not happen and when Bellamy identified him as the traitor, it got me thinking that he wouldn't be working alone, he couldn't have. He must have been working with or better yet, for someone with a hidden agenda that would benefit from your death, Thelonious." He said to the man before he continued.

"So when I arrested him, Shumway said he was fighting for what he believed in and it got me thinking about possible suspects and I could only come up with one person. Someone who would be very interested in an open Chancellor position and with the knowledge of Project Exodus." He said to them and they all knew who he was talking about. "Diana Sydney, our former Chancellor." Jake answered the unspoken question and Kane nodded. "I started following her and she had a few meetings with a few engineers and workers unhappy with your decision to lie about everything related to the 100 and the oxygen flaw and they were the ones I saw putting the bombs." He said motioning to the things on the table.

"I managed to get them out and disabled them without letting anyone know because I suspected that if they were to go off, it would be today. One of them I found right behind the place the Council members and you were, sir. She had planned a coup to kill all of us and take charge of the Ark again and she confirmed it when I caught her trying to leave the room and tried to force to stay. She went pale, worried that she wouldn't get out in time for the bombs to explode." Kane finished explaining.

"We need to arrest her." Abby said and Jaha nodded. "Yes, we do. Do you know where she is?" he asked Marcus who nodded. "Unfortunately, I think I do, sir and you're not going to like it." He said and Jaha nodded. "Go ahead," He said and Kane nodded. "I am guessing, sir that the ex-Chancellor will try to steal the Exodus ship," He said and they all looked surprised. "What about the supplies and the people getting ready to go?" Abby asked him. "If she stays, she will get floated, Earth is her only chance to escape justice." Jake said to his wife and the other two men. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go and stop her." Jaha said and the four of them started running in direction of the ship.

Back on Earth, it was already dark and Clarke was with her friends, drinking though she was moderating in expectation for when Finn comes looking for her. "Clarke, why can't I drink moonshine?" Charlotte asked and every one of their friends laughed. "Because you're too young and believe me, it's disgusting." Clarke said to her. "But I want to try it." Charlotte said and Wells looked at her. "How about next year when you're 13, we will let you do it then?" he said and Murphy stepped in. "Don't trust him, he is only saying that to get you to drop it. He will do the same last yea. I say let her taste it." He said drinking his share.

"And that is why Clarke is in charge of educating her and not you, dumbass." Raven slapped him on the back of the head making him spill his drink and the others laughed at their antics. "Hey. I was drinking that it was literally almost down my throat and you made me spit it out." He said and the girl just kept laughing as did the others. "Thanks for that Ray and no, John. Charlotte will not be drinking now nor next year. And you, young lady, don't have to drink to have fun. I barely touched mine and I am very happy this way." Clarke said and the younger girl pouted.

"I don't like being the youngest." She said crossing her arms and leaning back against her seat as they smiled at her. "Well think it about it like this, if you were the oldest, you would be grumpy like Bellamy." Clarke said as the girl and the others smiled. "Or a jackass like Murphy." Raven said. "Or an ugly ass like Raven." Murphy said right back at her. "Or bossy like Clarke." Wells said joining in the teasing. "Or a sucker like Wells." Clarke said right back at him. "Ain't that the truth, huh Jessica?" Murphy said cracking up, Raven right along with him as Clarke threw a stick at him.

"Charlotte is right here, Murphy. Keep it PG 13, please. Have some decency." Clarke said to him as he continued laughing though she had to admit it was funny and the couple in question was blushing madly and completely awkward with them and with each other. Clarke just shook her head at them. "Now, Ray, once you stop laughing like a maniac, please watch over Charlotte while I go speak with Bellamy. And protect her from Murphy, please." She said as she stood up, passing by him and slapping his head before going to where Bellamy was eating an apple just like last time.

"Hey, a lot of kids with hangover to babysit tomorrow." She said to him and he smiled at her. "Best Unity Day ever." He said and she smiled. "What do you think of the grounder?" she asked. "Grounders, by now he made it home and they are preparing a lynch mob but relax, we got security covered." He said to her and she sighed. "Why don't you get a drink? You look like you could use one." He said and she chuckled. "Thank you but no alcohol or whatever Monty calls that thing he makes, for me tonight. Or ever." She said smiling.

"Clarke, the Exodus ship comes down here in two days, after that the party is over. Have some fun while you still can. You deserve it." He said and she nodded. "I am having fun, I just prefer doing that sober. But thank anyways." She said and left but just like before she turned to him. "So do you by the way and to be honest, you look like you could use a drink. In your case, more like the entire bottle, McGrumpy." She said to him and he smirked. "I'll have my fun when the grounders come." He said and she shook her head at his answer before she left to go back where her friends were talking.


	51. Best Unity Day Ever II

Best Unity Day ever, part 2

On the ground, Clarke was back with her friends teasing Jessica and Wells for apparently taking the next step though they only talked about it once Charlotte left to get some food for herself. "Although I am glad that you guys are in a happy bubble of love and hormones, I don't need to hear the details of what goes on in that bubble, got that Murphy?" Clarke said to the guy as the others smiled. "Why not? If we can only have a sex life through theirs." Murphy said and Wells threw something at him.

"You don't get to live through anything that happens between Jessica and I, you pervert." He said and Murphy just laughed. "Hey, I can't do anything about it if the place you choose to get it on is right next to where I sleep. It's disgusting." Murphy said and Jessica chuckled and he looked at her. "What?" He asked her and she looked at him. "I just remembered that I don't know which one is your bed and which one is Wells'. So you may want to change your bed sheet." She said and as they understood what she meant, Raven and Clarke started cracking up as Murphy looked like she had just slapped him.

"You did it on my bed?" Murphy asked them and Wells shrugged. "What can I say? It gets really confusing to tell them apart at night." He said and Murphy pretended to gag as the girls laughed even harder at his face. "I am burning that bed. I mean it. Disgusting. Both of you." He said to the couple. "Well, you did ask for it." Raven said to him and knocked her cup with Clarke's and the others. "You do know I hate you with every fiber of my being, don't you Reyes?" He said to the mechanic who just smirked. "My feeling for you exactly, Murphy." She said to him and he groaned.

"Oh shut up. You two know you love each other. You know, I would dare to say you two would make a very cute couple." Clarke said and it looked like she had just grown a second head. "And I would dare say for both of us, that we hate you with every fiber of our being, Griffin." Murphy said and Raven nodded causing Clarke to laugh and that was when Finn came to where they were chatting around and asked to talk to her. She shared a look with Murphy and Raven and they already knew what would happen and nodded back and she stood up and followed him. "What do you want to talk to me about?" she asked. "I need you to come with me but I can't tell you why." He said like last time.

"Finn, tell me why or I won't go." She said firmly and he pulled her further away from the crowd. "I set up a meeting with the grounders," He said and she faked looking surprised. "A meeting? I don't get. With who? How?" she asked him. "I was just with the grounder that we had on the dropship, his name is Lincoln." He said. "Wait a second, he spoke to you?" she asked playing her part and he shook his head. "It's not important but if we have a chance to live in piece, we can stop the bloodshed and avoid a war." He said but she didn't interrupt him.

"This is our world now and I think we can do better than the first time around. I trust him." He said and she looked at him for a while before nodding. "Okay, then I will trust you. What were the terms of this meeting?" she asked him and he smiled, glad that she didn't protest his idea and agreed to go. "He will bring his leader and I will bring ours which is you and no weapons." He said to her and she sighed but nodded. "Okay, let's go then." She said and he smiled as they made their way towards the gate.

Becca had said that getting the attention of the Mountain to get them to kidnap the 100 was a marker but she hadn't explained to Clarke if the events leading up to that were as well so Clarke thought that she could change the war they had with the grounders through this meeting, without alerting Bellamy, he would not bring the guns and Jasper wouldn't screw it up for them but what she didn't know was that someone else overheard their conversation and while walking away, they bumped into Bellamy and had an idea.

Raven was once again working on the bullets, they weren't any luckier with them this time than they were last time so she was doing the same work again when Jasper came inside her tent slash workshop. "There you are," He said visibly more than tipsy as he came inside. "Alright. Listen. We're playing drunk ball. I bet Monroe my team's going win the Unity Day title. That's for you," He said passing her a cup that she took it with a smile on her face, "I know you Zero-G mechs have crazy hand-eye skills so what do you think? Must be better than what you're doing." He said to her and she smirked.

"I'm checking the gunpowder in these rounds so that if the Grounders try to kill us all, maybe, just maybe we can get a few shots off beforehand," She explained to him. "That's intense." He said and she nodded, "Yes, but there are a few that got gassed off." She said avoid blowing one. "You know my dad's gonna flip for this scrap metal. 'My kingdom for a soda can.' That's what he always used to say. What about you? Got any family?" he asked and she smiled. "Biological, no but I do have a family." She said thinking of her friends.

"Yeah, we all have each other now." He said to her and she nodded just as Bellamy came inside with guns and Raven didn't like what this meant at all. "Jasper, you're coming with me." he said passing the rifle to the boy who took off his goggles. "I am?" he asked the guy and Bellamy nodded, "You can handle a gun, can't you?" he said and the guy moved to grab the bullets and Raven stopped him. "Well if you're planning on shooting something, you better think twice. I haven't checked those yet." She said to him and he grabbed the other ones.

"What do you need them for?" she asked really hoping to hear a different answer but here it was. "Your boyfriend's being an idiot." He said to her and she sighed, this was not looking good. "We should ask Clarke what we should do first," Jasper said and Bellamy looked at him. "She is with Finn being another idiot now, let's go." He said and left the tent and the boy drank what was left on the cup and followed and she knew she didn't have time to warn Murphy so she just grabbed her bag and followed them out of camp hoping she could help Clarke make the disaster on the bridge better but not being so confident about it. Thing was she knew Clarke didn't plan on telling Bellamy about the meeting, so who did?

Meanwhile with Clarke and Finn, they were walking through the woods. "You know that this could be a trap, right?" she said to him and he nodded smiling at her. "Yep but since this is Unity Day, I decided to have hope instead like you suggested." He said to her and took a big step and winced. "Stop, let me look at your wound." She said to him and they stopped as he lifted his shirt and she took a look without the awkwardness from before. "Seriously, you are exerting yourself when it's not fully healed yet. You need to be more careful." She said to him.

"Well, I will remember to rest after we secure peace between our people and theirs until then we should get going. I don't think they like to wait and we don't have time to waste." He said to her. "We certainly don't." Clarke said to herself and followed after him as they continued on their track and so did the team behind them. Raven tried to make noise to alert Clarke but they were too far back for her to hear so she knew she would only be able to help when they got to the bridge so she kept quiet and let Bellamy lead and hoped everything would work out for them. At least she could still hope, right?

It took them some time especially since the sun came up while they were on their way towards the meeting place but they got there and Octavia was waiting, she seemed nervous about the whole thing and as they came closer to her, Clarke smirked at the girl. "So this is how you set this up?" she asked Finn and turned to Octavia. "You helped him escape. Lincoln, right?" She said simply stating a fact and the girl nodded. "I trust him Clarke." She said to the blonde and Clarke nodded. "I can take a guess on why, better yet, how." She said with a small smile and they heard the noises coming from the bushes and Clarke already knew it was Lincoln.

She was about to smile as she watched the two of them running towards each other when she looked to the side and saw who she hoped she wouldn't see there. How the hell did they found out about this? She sighed looking down and then back at them and saw that Raven looked as sad as she did because they knew what would or could happen now and then she saw Lincoln and Octavia pulling back from the hug and as he looked at her, instead of stepping back in fear, she simply gave him a small smile and a nod that he returned when they heard the noises of people coming and Clarke prepared herself for this.

First, of course, came the warriors mounting their horses which Clarke pointed out and then came Anya just as she remembered her. Finn walked to Lincoln and Clarke followed him. "Hey, we said no weapons." He said to the grounder and Lincoln turned to look at his people. "I was told there wouldn't be." He said and Clarke sighed. "Well, there is and there is nothing we can do about it. Should I go?" she asked Lincoln who nodded at her and Finn tried to go too but the grounder stopped him. "She goes alone." He said to the boy and Finn turned to her worriedly and she shook her head. "Wait here." She said to him firmly and started walking.

Anya got down from her horse and started walking towards her too and soon enough they stood in the middle facing each other. "Your name is Clarke?" Anya asked and Clarke nodded, "Yes, it is," She said without wavering. "I'm Anya," The woman said and of course, Clarke didn't extend her hand this time since she knew that wasn't the way they greeted each other and she didn't need the small humiliation of having to retreat her unshaken hand. "I came here to talk to you about peace." Clarke said firmly to the woman.

"Peace? You're invaders, your ship landed in our territory," Anya said to her and Clarke nodded her head at the older woman. "You're right, it did. I could tell you that we had no idea that the ground was survivable, and never imagined that there were survivors which is the truth because we really didn't know or didn't think is possible to be survivor but that's just us being egotistical ignorants. I know." She said and the woman seemed intrigued by her answer and let her continue talking which was a good signal so Clarke didn't stop.

"When I spoke of your people to our family, someone asked me if you were hostile and I explained to them that you had every right to be, because like you said, this is your land and we invaded it without asking permission and if it was the other way around, my people would probably have reacted worse so I want you to know that I understand why you would want us gone, I would do so too. But what I want, what I need for you to understand is that my people is dying where we come from and the Earth is the only solution so they will be coming down and will land on your territory but if we can arrange an agreement, any trouble coming from that can be avoided." Clarke said to the woman before she continued,

"My people haven't touched the ground in a hundred years and we never thought we would, at least not this generation of us but, here we are now, and we would very much like to have a small part of land so that we could live and prosper without hurting anyone, least of all your people. We just want to be able to have a life down here and I think as a leader, you can understand how important providing that for my people is important to me. In my situation, wouldn't you do the same for yours?" Clarke said firmly but also gently so that she would appear self-confident but not overly confident, something she tried to learn from Lexa.

"You said you want peace but you sent an armed group to capture Lincoln and some of you tried to torture him." Anya said but not as aggressively as last time. "He attacked my friend, the one by his side behind me and someone in my camp thought he could offer us information but I stopped them from even touching him, ask Lincoln if you need confirmation of that." Clarke said counting down to when Jasper would screw this up because she knew he would, she tried to change it but she could see that this was something that needs to happen so she just want to leave a good impression before it all goes to hell.

"Look Anya, what my friend believed when he proposed this meeting and what I also believe is that this doesn't have to end in bloodshed on any side, mine or yours. War is the last thing I want for any of us and I truly believe that peace can be achieved between both our people, I want that more than anything." Clarke said passionately trying to convince Anya of her sincerity and of her wishes of peace and the warrior crossed her arms. "Your people are coming down from the sky, is that right?" Anya asked her and Clarke nodded.

"Yes, farmers, doctors, children and I don't want them to come down here and not enjoy the Earth because they have to worry about your people attacking us at any time. Besides, the world was once the home of so many people and war was what almost destroyed us all. Don't you think we can do better, be better than they were?" she said to the warrior who seemed to stop for a second and contemplate about her words and at least she knew the impression she was giving Anya was a better on than the last. That she would consider a win.

"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us and will respect the terms you and I agree on?" she asked and Clarke nodded firmly. "They won't have a choice. They will agree to the terms we set even if I have to beat all of them up for it myself and believe me, with how much I want this peace between us, they better not test me." She said and the woman had a smirk on her face. "You have confidence." She said to her and Clarke shook her head. "I'm a leader and I only want what is best for my people, nothing more nothing less. But you must know that sometimes there are idiots that don't follow what we tell them to do." Clarke said to her and the woman nodded.

"I know how that works, had to beat a few of those myself." She said to the blonde and Clarke nodded at her. "Exactly. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize this because I know that this is right for my people but there are some who think they know better than me and will try to act on their own accords but I will try to contain them as best as I possibly can and I guess that is all a leader can promise another in a situation like this, don't you agree?" she said sincerely and Anya nodded. All was going well between the two women when suddenly she heard Jasper's scream. "Clarke, run." He yelled.

He started shooting but Raven quickly came to him and knocked off his gun but the grounders were already retaliating, guns had to be raised again and Bellamy joined in the attack. And when Anya tried to take her knife out, Clarke didn't think twice when she saw Bellamy raise his gun and dove against the woman tackling her to the ground landing on top of her and she looked at her in the eyes. "Those are the idiots I was telling you about. I didn't order this. Stay down or they will shoot you." Clarke said to the woman, grabbed her knife, stood up and threw at Bellamy's hand scratching it.

"Bellamy, stop shooting at them, right now! Get out of here!" Clarke called out to him and had to dodge to the ground as an arrow passed by her head and she looked back at Anya who was still lying down. "I am so sorry. I did not want this to happen. I hope you know that, at least." She said looking at the warrior with guilt in her eyes before she took off in a run and Finn came to her side as they dodged the arrows and as Clarke looked back, she noticed Anya going back to her people and getting on her horse.

The two leaders shared a look Clarke couldn't understand what it meant before the warrior turned around and left before they saw an arrow hit Lincoln as they came near him and Octavia. "Don't stop running until you get behind your walls, go. Take her." The grounder said motioning to Octavia and Clarke just pulled the girl as she called for Lincoln and they continued running and as they entered the woods, they ended up meeting the other three as they just continued running out of there.


	52. Best Unity Day Ever III

Best Unity Day ever, part 3

On the ark, the chancellor and the other three came to find engineers and some of the guards and a closed door on the Exodus ship and Diana and her followers were all on the inside. "Diana. What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jaha asked her as Jake started working on opening the door. "It happened to fast, sir." An engineer said. "What you should have done. I am bringing my people to the ground." She said to Jaha and the ones inside cheered for her. "You lied to them, you sent their kids to the ground and they know that majority of the people will have to be sacrificed and they decided that they won't be the ones you choose to sacrifice again." She said to him.

"You are wrong," Jaha said to her before continuing as Jake tried to open the doors remotely and Kane pretended to try to open them manually he was just buying time for his plan, "There really was such a problem but the council found a solution, a solution where every single person on the Ark will get a chance to go to the ground, I swear. You don't have to do this." He said to her and to the others who were with her and he could see heads looking around and even Diana looked surprised at his words but she didn't let herself falter.

"He is lying to you once again. I was Chancellor before him and I know project Exodus better than he ever could and I guarantee you there is no solution besides this one. The one where we take matters into our own hands and get what we deserve and that is the ground instead of waiting for a Chancellor who has failed us and failed to protect our children and we are going whether you like it or not, Thelonious." She said and they cheered for her before she said something to the guard and suddenly there was no communication between them anymore which Kane was already expecting.

"She cut off communication and I think they are preparing to launch." Sinclair said to them. "But the ship is not ready. There were still a few things that needed to be fixed." Jake said to him. "They can't launch with the door's open, correct?" Jaha asked the engineers and Jake nodded. "Then get the damn door open." He said but Jake shook his head. "It's already pressurized and can only open from the inside." He explained and Jaha looked at the guards. "Keep trying to open it." He said and they stepped forward to try and open manually and the other stepped back and that was when Kane decided to step in.

"Jake, what will happen if they launch like this?" Kane asked him and the engineer looked at him. "If they are not decoupled, which means that they are still connected to the Ark's major systems, it will cripple the Ark and it could shut down the power, water, air and we would all die." He explained to them. "How fast can you decouple them?" he asked and as Jake looked at the systems, Kane waited for his answer. "Yes but it would take hours." Sinclair said and Jake shook his head. "I can do it. It would take me 30 minutes at least." He said to them and Kane nodded. "Sir, the kids need the supplies and it doesn't matter if it is them or us who get down first so I say launch them." He said with a pain on his heart.

Even though he wanted Diana to pay for what she had done, it caused him pain to know that he would have to sacrifice all these people for things to go in the right direction. Clarke will need the hydrazine from what is left of the ship and he needs to stop the destruction of the Ark and tough decisions must be made. He had spoken to Clarke about it once he had the chance to talk to her alone and she understood his reluctance but she had reminded him that although they can try their best to change the situation to save, people still had free will and all they could do at times was to try and minimize the disaster. 'We save who we can save today.' She told him and he knew she was right

There are about 50 to 70 people inside, if he didn't make this decision, the problems that they had last time would come up again and their chances of getting more of their people down to the ground would be the same or even lesser. They had made their choice and he had made his. He was sorry but it needed to be done. "Do we have another option?" Abby asked them, it was clear she didn't like the idea at all and that was because she didn't even know that they would all die. Kane shook his head at her.

"With Diana in there poisoning their mind and communications with the inside of the ship out, we don't have a way to convince them to stop and I am pretty sure they will launch anyway without care of who stays behind. At least this way, we don't let them damage the Ark and potentially kill us all along the way. It is a tough decision but one you need to make, sir." He turned to the Chancellor and Jaha looked at the ship and sighed before he turned to Jake. "Start the procedure to decouple them and then we will launch them." He said to him.

"Are you sure about this, my friend?" Jake asked him as he also understood that they didn't exactly have a choice, it was needed for the greater good of their people. "Yes, I am sure. Get it done as fast as you can Jake." Thelonious said and Jake started working on it immediately. "I don't like this." Abby said to the group and they all nodded at her. "None of us do, Abby but is the ship or the safety of the Ark and we need it functioning properly if we want it to make the drop to the ground." Kane answered her and the others nodded and waited for Jake to work as fast as he could.

For thirty long minutes, Kane waited and waited and waited, he knew Diana wouldn't stop even if it meant destroying the Ark, she cared little about the people, she wanted to come to the Ground and if she got to be their Chancellor, she would be glad to see everyone on the Ark die but he still felt bad knowing the fate of the people that trusted her, just like the 320 that trusted him and volunteered for the culling. He saved them this time but these people made their choice and there was nothing he could do besides make the best out of the situation and when Jake looked up saying that it was done, he knew he made the right choice for everyone, on the ground and up here.

"All you need to do is push this button and they will start launching the ship immediately." Jake said passing the tablet to Jaha. "And the Ark?" Kane asked him just to make sure. "The ship is decoupled from us but it will shake a little from the launch but other than that, the Ark will be fine. Nothing wrong with it." He said as he hugged his wife closer to his side. "Very well." Jaha said and called the guards to let go of the door and they did as Kane instructed everyone to get behind the doors as Jaha came in front of the door and motioned that he wanted to speak. Diana nodded and the guard opened communication again.

"So you finally gave up?" she asked him and the man sighed. "No but I made a decision for my people. A decision you forced me to make, I'm afraid." He said and he pressed the button and there was a voice on the speaker. "Launching countdown: twenty, nineteen,…" Everyone looked around and she turned to him. "You're launching us?" she asked him and he nodded. "Yes, but just before you go I wanted to let you know that we had planned to bring all the stations down to the ground so everyone could go home." He said and everyone was shocked.

"I wish you had trusted me one more time." He said looking at the people inside and walked away as he went behind the doors as it closed and he rested against it. "Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." It said and the Ark started shaking and everyone held on tight but soon enough, it stopped and everyone knew that it was done. "Jake, the Ark?" Jaha asked giving the tablet back to the man as the engineer checked on it before looking at him again. "Perfectly fine." He said and Kane sighed relieved. "Well, I guess there was a culling after all." Abby said to them and Kane looked at her.

"There wasn't a better choice, Abby." He said to her and she nodded. "I know, I know that it was them or us and I agree we made the right choice, doesn't mean I have to like it." She said and Jake hugged her. "None of us do." He said and she smiled. "Well, now we hope that they don't cause problems for the kids and for us when we come down and join them." Jaha said and walked away and so did the others, Kane included. Now he only needed to get everyone down and once they were reunited, he and the others could work together to help Clarke.

Meanwhile back on the ground, once the camp finally came into view did most of them felt safe but Clarke was not happy at all with what happened and when they stopped to take a breath, she was angry and turned to Bellamy and Jasper. "What the hell was that?" she asked angrily. "That was us saving your life." Jasper said to her and Clarke shook her head. "No, Jasper. You didn't save my life. You started a war." She said firmly to him. "That was why I didn't want you going out or getting a weapon because I feared this would happen." She said and turned to Bellamy.

"How can you even think of bringing someone with PTSD related to grounders to a meeting with the fucking grounders?!" she asked him raising her voice. "You're lucky I brought him, they were about to kill you." Bellamy said to her and Clarke shook her head. "No, they weren't. She was about to agree to a truce so that we could live in peace with them when you started shooting out of nowhere and now, well start preparing for war because that is what this stupidity brought upon us!" She said and started pacing. "You ruined everything." Octavia said to them both and walked out and Jasper looked down.

"Jasper, give me the rifle and go inside. I will talk to you later." She said to him and he looked at her and her outstretched hand. "Now, Jasper! Don't make me ask for it again." She said and he sighed before giving it to her and walking past them inside the camp. "Finn, Bellamy, go inside too please. I want to be alone with Raven right now." She said to them and the boys looked at each other and walked back inside too and once they were gone, Clarke sighed. "Goddamn it." The blonde said and Raven went to hug her. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop them but I couldn't." She said and Clarke shook her head.

"It's okay. I had a feeling this would happen anyway." She said and the girl pulled back to look at her. "What do you mean?" Raven asked and Clarke sighed. "Becca had warned me that the Mountain's attention was a marker but I didn't think what happened that caused it, meaning the war, needed to happen again so I thought I could change it all but it turns out the whole thing was a marker and now with this, we are back to the start." Clarke explained to her and Raven sighed understanding it all now. "So there was nothing I or you could do to stop the war. It was all in vain." She said but Clarke shook her head.

"No, luckily, it wasn't. My conversation with Anya went well and I manage to stop her from getting shot. When the time comes, that will work in our favor." Clarke said to the mechanic and Raven nodded as they looked up and saw the ship. "Kane did it." She said and the blonde nodded as they watched. "Too fast and no parachutes." Clarke said and Raven sighed as they grimly watched as the ship got too the ground and all that followed was the noise of the explosion and the mushroom cloud to confirm the crash. "Well, I guess that couldn't be changed." Raven said and Clarke shook her head.

"Marker." It was all she said and Raven nodded. "Let's go inside, there will be a lot of questions." Raven said and they turned around and walked inside and everyone was talking to each other and when she came out, they all turned to her with those questions. Murphy came out and put down a stoop in front of her again and she chuckled before stepping up on it as everyone went silent to hear what she had to say. "I know you have questions about what happened and so do I but from what I could see and deduce, that was the Exodus ship but there was something wrong with it and it crashed." She said to them and everyone started talking and whispering among themselves.

She raised her hands and they stopped. "Look, we don't know anything about what happened, what went wrong, who was inside, nothing but as soon as we do, I will tell you. I promise. For now, there is nothing we can do them but we will wait for tomorrow to go check it out, okay? So everyone stay inside and try to get some sleep. It seems that the next few days will be very tiring for all of us." She said and they nodded and she stepped down and turned to Raven. "Fill Murphy in and try contacting the Ark." She said and the girl nodded.

Clarke walked and was stopped by her friends, Charlotte in particular. "Clarke, were Abby and Jake…" the girl couldn't finish but Clarke understood and shook her head. "No, they were not coming down now so don't worry." She said to her and the girl nodded. "Clarke, are you okay? I haven't seen you all day long." Wells asked her and Clarke looked at him and to Maggie who looked guilty but she didn't have the time to deal with her now or answer his question. "Ask Raven, she will tell you. I got to go." She said and walked past them to where Jasper was standing with Monty and she passed by them and called to the taller boy.

"Come with me. Now."


	53. Best Unity Day Ever IV

Best Unity Day ever, part 4

It was all she said to him and she heard the boy sigh, say something to Monty and follow her as they entered her tent and Clarke sat down on the makeup bed and motioned for him to sit down on the other one in front of her. They were silent until Jasper spoke up. "Are you angry with me?" he asked her while staring down at his feet. Clarke sighed. "Look at me," She said and he looked up at her, "I am angry at Bellamy. With you? I'm disappointed, I'm sad." She said and he nodded. "I'm sorry, I just saw them and I didn't want what happened to me to happen to you too." He said to her and she nodded.

"I know, Jasper. And that is the part that makes me the saddest. Because I know, deep down you didn't mean to cause the trouble your actions caused with the grounders but the part that makes me disappointed is because you didn't trust me." She said to him and he looked surprised. "But I do, I trust you completely," He said and she shook her head. "No, not today, you didn't. You didn't trust me to be able to handle the meeting and the danger," She said and he tried to speak but she didn't let him. "I knew that there were probably going to be weapons but I went anyway without taking one because it was not what we needed." She said to him.

"Jasper, I know you still have trauma relating to what happened with you and the grounders the first day and I also know that it made the difference out there today and that was exactly what I said when I brought the guns here, not to attack unless given an order and that if you couldn't handle it, you couldn't have it. Why did you go with Bellamy?" she asked him and he sighed. "Because I'm tired of being afraid, I want to be brave like the rest of you and because I was drinking the moonshine. A lot of it." He said and she sighed and gave him a small smile.

"Bravery comes in many forms, Jas. Sometimes stopping someone from doing something stupid is braver than doing it with them. What you went through isn't nothing and if you want to get better, you need to learn to deal with it but on your way, your terms. Are you afraid of the grounders?" she asked him and he nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much." He said and she nodded, "Good, that is the first step. Now, this was the first time you went outside, wasn't it?" she asked and he nodded again. "Do you, not me, do you think you were ready to go out?" she asked softly and he shook his head.

"No." He said lowly and she smiled at him. "And that, right there, admitting your limits and your mistakes, that is the biggest example of bravery, Jasper Jordan. You are very brave and you don't need to hold a gun and shoot people to show us that, to show yourself that. You can inspire them even more with what you have here. You do it with me. Every day." She said pointing to his heart and she saw tears falling down on his face and she wiped them as he smiled and chuckled at her. "What?" she asked smiling as well.

"You're like the Mom of the group, always taking care of us and encouraging us." He said chuckling and she laughed and shrugged. "I guess someone has to be. Now, I want you to promise me that you are only going to do what you feel comfortable doing especially in regards to the grounders, got it?" she said and he nodded. "Yeah, I promise and I promise I won't screw up anything for you anymore. You can trust that." He said sincerely and she nodded squeezing his hand. "Strangely despite what happened today, I do trust that." She said to him. "Now, go on and try to rest and you're on food duty for 2 days, no rifle for you until I say otherwise." She ordered him and he nodded.

"What about you? You deserve rest more than anyone in here." He said to her and she shook her head. "I have too many problems to solve and hard conversations to have yet. Like they used to say: no rest for the wicked. Now, go and try to sleep and if you see Bellamy send him here, please." She said to him and he nodded leaving her tent as she put her head on her hands and gripped her necklace and tried to draw strength from Lexa and she did. And just as she secured it back in place, Bellamy peaked in. "Jasper said you want to talk to me." He said to her and she nodded. "Sit." She said.

"I understand why you did this, you thought it was dangerous and wanted to protect us, I get that but I need you to understand that I was about to get a peace treaty with the grounders for us and for our people when they come down and I was also almost able to convince Anya to let us live here when that little stunt you pulled off undid all of that effort and now we are at war with them. Do you understand that you may just have sentenced us to death?" she said firmly as he looked at her. "We are not going to die." He said to her and she nodded.

"Of course, we are not. At least not all of us because I will have to come up with a way to save us all from the mess you got us in today but that is beside the point. The point is here we are again, Bellamy. Someone else paying for your mistakes, I thought we talked about this." She said sighing. "I know but Clarke, they were going to shoot you." He said to her and she shook her head. "You don't know that because Jasper fired the first shot. He started it and was your brain not working when you decided to bring him? It must not have been because even Monty would have been a better choice." She said and he sighed.

"Well, he was there and it just came to me and I didn't think he would lose it like that." He said and she sighed. "For Christ's sake, Bellamy, think before you act. Jasper is afraid of them, terrified because he was speared by them and you give him a rifle and say, oh let's go meet some grounders? The idea should never have passed your head in the first place and even if it did, you should have known better. Gosh, Bell, you're the oldest one here, the adult but sometimes is clear that even Charlotte who is 12 years old has a better understanding of what it means to be mature than you do. Today, you acted like reckless child and ruined the one chance we have to avoid more death. Do you get that?" She said raising her voice.

He looked down sighing. "Look at me, I am not done." She said firmly and he looked at her. "What do you want me to say, Clarke? That I screwed up?" He asked angrily. "Yes, that is exactly what I want to hear. Because you did screw up, Bellamy, big time. You make these impulsive decisions and every time, someone has to pay for it. These kids out there, could be celebrating peace tonight but instead, they will be doubling on duty because they have to worry about a war and possibly dying. Can you understand what is happening now because of one single choice you made?" She said seriously to him and he sighed nodding.

"I really thought I was doing the right thing. I agree I didn't think before I took Jasper with me but I also didn't intended to start a war. He said they were about to shoot you and my sister was there and once he started shooting, there was nothing left to do and I realize now that it was my mistake. You're right, I don't think, I just act and I guess that is why they chose you for a leader and not me because they know you make better decisions than any of us." He said to her and she sighed.

"I'm not perfect, no leader is and some times, we screw up too or we make a wrong decision but the thing is that we always need to remember that when we are making a decision, we are not making only for us but for everyone that follows us. The decision to get peace for us wasn't only mine. It was Drew's decision, Mel's, Connor's, Monroe's, Harper's. When I was there talking to Anya, I was talking for all of them, I had to think about all of them and choose what was best for them. That is the job of a leader, Bellamy. That is why they didn't choose you. It's not because I make better choices than you, it's because you make choices for yourself while I make choices for the group. That's why." She said to him and he nodded.

"I don't know how to be that kind of leader. I think I am better at following orders or someone else." He said to her and she shook her head. "While I do think you can be better than that, if you don't think you can do it, if you don't think you can make the sacrifices needed, if you can be the best you can for everyone, then don't do it. We don't need you getting in over your head and ruining it all. Besides, there is nothing wrong in following someone, as long as that person deserves to be followed and Bellamy, think before you choose to follow someone. Judge them and their actions, their morals, do not follow blindly. Question them if you think you should." She said to him thinking about Pike.

"Should I question you?" He said smiling and she gave him a small smile back. "Like I said and I am not perfect and not a tyrant, of course, you can question me. But I also need you to trust me, any of you can ask me anything about my decisions and I will explain them as best as I can but I am still the leader and sometimes I will just do things that you need to accept or obey and not go against it, such as not bring weapons to a meeting with the grounder to avoid exactly the kind of thing that happened today at the bridge." She explained and he nodded understanding what she was saying to him.

"So next time, Bellamy if I tell you don't bring guns, don't bring guns. Because you may not want to admit it but I do know what I am doing. I need your support and not more messes for me to clean it up. Got it?" she said to him and he nodded. "Got it." He said to her. "Now, as punishment, you're on food duty for three days starting from after we came back tomorrow. I will let Jasper help you. You cannot keep your rifle unless I specifically say you can or when you're on patrol. And I swear to God, Bellamy, **do not** disobey me like this again. You're walking on very thin line with me." She said seriously and he nodded.

"Okay, now go. I have to go to talk to the Ark. Find out what happened to the Exodus ship." She said and they stood up, hugged each other before they got out of the tent and she went to the one with the radio and Murphy and Raven were there waiting for her. "Hey, she told me. Are you okay?" he asked hugging her and she nodded against his shoulder. "What is going to happen now?" Raven asked her and Clarke sighed pulling back. "Retaliation. Just like before with Murphy, only that this time, it will be Dax they will have captured." She said as she went to sit down. "Is that why you banished him?" he asked and she looked at them.

"Well, like you both know, I was hoping we could change it all from happening. You know the bridge the warfare, the ring of fire, all of it. But I also learned that plans don't last very long in battle and I thought in the case that something went wrong with my plan, I should make sure that at least plan B is to let things go on the same way as they did the first time around so instead of killing Dax, I banished him so that if the grounders did retaliate and attacked us, he would be the weapon for the warfare again like you. At least, we will know how to go from there." She explained to them. "Very good thinking, blondie. Did Becca teach you that?" Murphy said and she shook her head. "Lexa did." She said and they nodded understanding.

"The Exodus? Was it Mount Weather again?" Raven asked changing the subject and Clarke nodded, silently thanking the girl, she didn't want to think about Lexa right now and how Clarke wishes she was here. "The crash? Yes. The rest? It must have been Kane. Can we talk to them?" she asked the mechanic and Raven nodded sitting down beside Clarke as Murphy stood behind them. "It seems that the Ark didn't suffer anything from the launching of the ship." She said and turned it on and waited for it to show something when Sinclair's face came in. "Clarke? Raven? Are you okay?" he asked them and the girls nodded. "Yes, but where is the Chancellor and the others?" the blonde asked.

"They're in the council room, I will patch you to them. Wait a second." He pressed a few buttons and suddenly Jaha's face was on. "Clarke." He said to her and then suddenly it was her mom on screen. "Clarke, sweetie? Are you okay? Raven, Murphy you okay too?" she asked and the three nodded. "Yes, we are all okay, Mom. Jaha, this Exodus ship, what happened? Why was it sent earlier?" She asked them. "Clarke. The Exodus ship was overtaken by the ex-chancellor Diana Sydney and a few of her followers. They were going to launch themselves but that would have destroyed the power on the Ark and we would all have died and we decided to launch them ourselves to avoid the biggest damage to the stations." Kane said and Clarke nodded.

"That was the right decision. You couldn't risk the lives on everyone for a small group of crazy people. You all did good on that one. Unfortunately, I don't have good news for you in regards to the landing of the ship." She said and the face of the chancellor came on again. "What bad news?" Jaha asked worriedly and she took a deep breath. "It seems that there was something wrong with it and the parachutes didn't work. It crashed and exploded. I am sorry but I don't think anyone survived it." She said and he looked shocked and surprised.

"How do you know that, kiddo?" Jake asked visibly shaken by the news. "Mushroom cloud, big noise, fire. An explosion of that size wouldn't leave survivors." She said sadly and he nodded. "We sentenced them to death." One councilor said out loud. "With all due respect, if what you are telling me is true than there was nothing else you could have, should have done. It was bad and horrible what happened to them and I am deeply sorry to the families of the people who were inside but you couldn't have bet the lives of more than two thousand people on theirs. You made the right choice that had an unfortunate outcome." She said seriously.

"Thank you for you wise words, Clarke." Jaha said smiling sadly at her and she nodded at him. "You're welcome. Anyway, tomorrow we will go to the crash site to see what happened and what we can find and if we find, what is it, Raven?" Clarke asked and Raven answered. "The black box or hard drives." She said and Clarke nodded remembering that was what she said the last time when they were in the place. "That. Anything that can explain why they crashed and any information we have, I will pass it to you." She said and he smiled.

"You have proven yourself quite the responsible and reliable leader, Clarke. I'm impressed." Jaha said and she gave him a small smile. "I learned from the best. Though sorry, it's not you." She said and the others gave a small chuckled, he did too but three people in the conversation knew she was talking about Lexa. "Plans for the people and Earth?" she asked Jaha. "We are still finishing the details but as soon as we are prepared, we will warn you." He said and she nodded. "Very well. Now, if you excuse me. I have to take care of other matters here. Mom, Dad, love you and I will see you soon. Bye." They said it back and she cut it off.

"This is weird, you know? This helping you change everything and being on your side and all of that." Murphy said since all that happened since the day he was supposedly to be banished had been really weird for him in a good way and they smiled. "Yes, it is but it is also very tiring and if you both don't mind, I need to rest so I will see you guys tomorrow." Clarke said and hugged them both before she left for her tent, where Charlotte was already asleep and she smiled at the girl before taking off her jacket and boots, laying down and falling sleep immediately and dreaming of Lexa as always.


	54. Virus

Virus, old friend

Clarke woke up the next day quite early, the sun hadn't even come up to the sky yet but knowing what she knew would happen in a few days, she couldn't exactly sleep. Soon enough would the day where they would face the grounder army and that was something she was not looking forward to so she put on her boots, her jacket, kissed Charlotte and walked out of the tent. She went to Murphy and Raven's tent. After Wells and Jessica started having sex regularly, the couple got a tent for themselves and Raven started sharing Wells' old one along with Murphy which was proving to be quite an amusing disaster.

Clarke went inside it and started waking them up. "Guys, wake up." She said sitting down on Raven's bed as they woke up after a while. "Hey, what is it?" Raven asked her and Clarke sighed. "You know what is coming soon, right? The battle with the grounders." She said to them and they nodded. The topic finally seemed to shake whatever sleep was left within them and they both sat up on their beds. Raven sit beside Clarke as she put on her boots and Murphy did the same across from them.

"That can't be avoided, can it?" Murphy asked her as he finished and leaned forward and Clarke shook her head at him sadly. She wished she could change it and tried to but it was not possible so now she was just trying to accept it. "No, like we have confirmed it with what happened yesterday, the ring of fire seems to be a marker. As for the bridge, destroying it is what prompts the Mountain Men to come for us so we have no choice." She said to them. "And do we need to be captured by them too?" Raven asked her and she shook her head.

"Not you and Murphy, no. As soon as you finished with the airlocks, I want the two of you to take Charlotte and get away from here." She said to them and they both looked surprised. "Why? Raven and Charlotte, I can understand. But why me? I should stay and help you. It's what I am here for, right?" he asked her and she smiled. He surely has come a long way from someone who would have not cared to see her dead, to someone who wanted to protect her like this. She really was happy to have become his friend.

"Very simple reasons. One, you will not be needed inside Mount Weather, Jasper is. He needs to lead them while they are inside so there's that. Two, because I will not stay there for very long and getting away with Anya would be much simpler if it is just the two of us. Three, because the two of you will be left with the mission to stop Finn and Bellamy from going after us. Just hold Finn long enough for me to get to camp so he will not go ballistic in TonDC," She explained before she continued, "And four, because I don't want either one of you three to get hurt and we know what the Mountain Men will do to the rest of them so I need you both out here, to work with Kane once they get down. You got it?" She said and they nodded.

"Now, Ray, we are about to go to the crash site, I want you to get the hydrazine then. From what I heard you got sick on your way to the bridge and I don't want that so make the bomb before you get sick and give it to Finn, he can do it." She said and the girl nodded. "So we're really blowing it up again?" Murphy asked her and she nodded. "We don't have a choice anymore, what happened last time will happen again, mostly but there is one mission for you, a hard one Murphy." She said to him and he nodded. "Go ahead." She took a deep breath. "Once Dax contaminates us, I want you to kill him." She said seriously and he was shocked but then nodded.

"He is not a good person to have around and completely untrustworthy so once he has played his part, finish him like you did with Connor. No bullets." She said to him and he nodded. "Okay. We all knew the killing would have to start somewhere again anyway." He said to her and she nodded. "Good, now Murphy, I want you to stay here. I don't know if you're immune or not, if you're not, I need you to be the first one to get to him, that way you will get sick first and get better first as well." She explained and he understood his instructions.

"One question." Raven said and Clarke nodded. "Why let Dax in to contaminate us at all? Last time, the others panicked thinking Murphy was a grounder and shot at him. With Murphy here, when that happened, he could just kill Dax and no one would suspect him and we would not have to get sick in the first place. It sucked, Griffin." Raven said and Clarke nodded. "I know and I thought about that and it could work, it's a good plan except that if we change that we don't know how the whole thing will change after that." Clarke said before continuing.

"Thinking that the virus affected us delayed the grounder attack to first light. What if by changing that they decide to attack early, with the element of surprise? We would not be ready for them if that happens and things could go horribly wrong for us. There are too many things at stake in this point, too many variables and though what you said is a good idea, I prefer to go through the safest route which is to follow our original timeline, that way we know exactly what will happen and when it will happen, alright?" She finished looking at them and they both nodded agreeing with what she said.

"Alright. Ray, get the stuff you need for the hydrazine and let's go." She said and the girl nodded as they stood up and left the tent to find the sun was shining brighter than when Clarke woke up. She saw Bellamy and went to him. "Rough night?" he asked her and she chuckled. "Rough month." She said back at him and he chuckled as well. "Any problems with patrol?" She asked and he shook his head. "No, the rest of the night was peaceful and the Red Team has taken over." He reported to her and she nodded. "You okay to go on without sleep?" She asked and he nodded. "I slept for about two hours. I'm good." He said and she nodded.

"Well, then get a party to accompany us to the crash site, armed and gather everyone for me, please." She asked him and he nodded as he went and started getting the people and once everyone was there, she spoke to them. "As I promised yesterday, I spoke with the Ark about the Exodus ship. Apparently, there was a coup and someone hijacked the ship for themselves and they were ready to let the rest of the Ark die for it but the council and engineers found a way to avoid that by launching the ship earlier than planned but something went wrong with it and it crashed." She explained.

"Now, a group will go with me to check it out and see if we can find anything to help understand what happened better. In here, I want heavy security and perimeter patrol at all times. The grounders are coming and they're coming for our blood. Murphy will be left in charge while I am gone and if he tells you to do something, do it. Understood?" she said to them and everyone nodded. "Good, now let's start one more day on Earth." Clarke said and everyone dispersed except for the group that was with Bellamy that she noticed had Wells on it too. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Clarke." Jessica called as she walked over with Charlotte who quickly hugged her. "I am sorry about yesterday, I really thought I was helping by telling Bellamy of the meeting." She said guilty while the blonde caressed the little girl's head. "I know you had good intentions, Jessica but you did more harm than good. Just don't do it again." She said and the girl nodded leaving to check on her boyfriend. "Clarke, are Abby and Jake okay?" Charlotte asked looking up as the blonde looked down. "Yes, they are. I spoke with them yesterday, why don't you go and talk to them too? They miss you, you know? And with everything I have to do, I barely have time to spend with them." She said and the girl smiled hugging her.

"I love you, Clarke." She said and the blonde smiled hugging her too. "I love you too, Charlotte." She said before she heard her name being called and looked up at Bellamy. "We're ready." He said to her and she nodded pulling back from the hug. "Now, I left Murphy in charge of security but we still need the food to be prepared and you can handle putting those people to work if they get lazy, right?" Clarke asked her and the girl smiled nodding. "That's good. I will be back soon." Clarke said kissing Charlotte's head as she turned to join the group as they made their way out of camp.

The trip was done, most in silence. Wells was there with a rifle but Finn didn't have one much like last time, he had refused to use one which was ironic given what he did once he got his hands on one of those. It took them about two hours and a half to get there and the view was as gruesome as Clarke and Raven remembered. "Okay, split up and try to find a black box or survivors if possible. The other, secure the perimeter, eyes on the trees, visual confirmation from Bellamy before opening fire. Got it?" Clarke said and everyone nodded. "Good, then spread out." She said to them and everyone started moving around the place.

Clarke knew it was bad but the skeleton brought back a few memories and she sighed. These people never stood a chance against the Mountain's interference, she hoped Kane didn't feel too guilty about it, there was nothing he could have done. "Stay sharp. Grounder retaliation for what happened at the bridge is coming, just a matter of when." Bellamy said to the others as Clarke listened. "You blame them? If you didn't bring guns." Finn said and Raven stopped him. "Okay, it's enough Finn. What is done is done, now get back to searching." She said to him and Clarke smiled as she came to find the hydrazine. Horrible smell as she remembered.

"Raven, come here." She called and the girl came to her and so did Bellamy, Finn and Wells as Raven knelt down. "Hydrazine. Highly unstable on its not solid form." She said and Clarke nodded. "Do it." She said to the girl and she took out the suit she brought and started getting dressed. "What is she doing?" Wells asked her. Clarke grabbed a rock, dipped a little in the liquid and called like Raven did. "Fire in the hole." She threw the rock and an explosion happened. "The grounders are coming, better be prepared when they do." She said to him as she walked away and Raven now fully clothed with the suit opened the container and all there was left to do was to wait for it to fill.

Back on camp, it was already dark and Murphy knew that if Clarke was right and she usually is then Dax would be coming soon so he was staying sharp and when there was a loud noise and Connor warned. "Somebody hit the trip wires." He called out and everyone pointed the weapons outside and Murphy quickly joined in. "Eyes on the forest." He said to them though he already found where the guy was and he made some noise. "There, there." Derek started shooting and Murphy stopped him. "Stop wasting bullets, idiot. But I think you got him." He said to the guy.

"Let's check it out. Everyone else stay inside." He said to them as they grabbed a torch each and Octavia followed them out and like last time, she went to touch the guy who squinted away from her and they got a good look on his face, beaten up just like Murphy was. "Dax?" Octavia asked and the boy was shaking like a leaf. "Okay, get him inside. Clarke will decide what to do with him when she gets back." Murphy said as the boys gave Octavia their torches and went to grab Dax and started their way back inside.

"Murphy, that's the guy who tried to kill my brother." Octavia said to him once they were inside and he nodded. "I know but I also know that this is Clarke's decision, not mine. When she gets here, she will know what to do with him. For now, he stays." He said putting the torches back in place and moving towards the dropship where he found the guy curled up against the metal like he did once before. "Stay here with him and don't let him move." He said to the boys while he moved out and waited. "John, what is happening?" Charlotte asked him. "We don't know for sure but for now, stay away from the dropship, got it?" he said to her and she nodded.

Soon enough, Clarke and the rest of the group came back and Murphy moved quickly to intercept them right by the gates. "Clarke. We have a situation." He said to her and she sighed knowing what it was. "Okay, Raven, go do your thing, Wells go and help her with anything she needs. Everyone else, help on patrol. Bellamy, you're with me." She called out as everyone did what she said and she followed Murphy. "What is the situation?" she asked him. "There was movement outside the wall, we thought it was the grounders, turns out it was Dax. We brought him inside." He explained as Bellamy walked past them.

"Where is he?" he said as the others parted and they got a look at him all beaten up. "Connor and Derek stay. Everyone else out. Go, patrol can't be left unattained. The grounders are still out there." She said to them and everyone left. The only ones inside was Clarke, Murphy, Finn, Bellamy, Derek, Connor and Dax. "He claims he was with the grounders." Derek said, "We caught him trying to sneak back in camp," Connor said. "I wasn't sneaking you dumbass, I was running away from the grounders." Dax said weakly. "Anyone see grounders?" Bellamy asked and the boys shook their heads. "In that case." He lifted his rifle but Finn stepped in. "What is your problem?" he asked the older guy.

"We were clear what would happen with him if he came back to camp." He tried again and Finn stepped in between. "No, if he was with the grounders, then he knows things that can help us." Finn said and Clarke looked at Murphy and they gave each other a small smirk. "Help us? He tried to kill Clarke and I. We banished him and now we're gonna kill him. Get the hell out of my way." Bellamy said and Clarke finally stepped in, pulling his rifle down. "Finn is right." She said moving towards the boy she knew was the vessel for the virus.

"Like hell he is. Clarke, think about what he tried to do to us." Bellamy said to her and she looked back at him. "I am, believe me." She said as she grabbed Dax's hands and looked at his fingers. "He is not lying, his fingernails were thorn of. They tortured him." She said looking at the boy. "What did you tell them about us?" Bellamy asked angrily. "Everything." He said and she looked at him before standing up and facing Bellamy. "Once he is better, we find out what he knows and then he is out of here." She said and moved past him. "What if he refuses to leave?" he asked and she looked at Murphy before looking back at him.

"Then we kill him."


	55. Burnt bridges

The bomb is ready

Clarke could feel herself getting a little weak so she knew she had caught the virus but that, like before, didn't stop her from working here and there for the rest of the night. She stayed clear from Charlotte and Wells choosing to spend the night in the dropship and with Murphy and Raven on it, the two of them were able to keep the young girl away from her. When she woke up the next day, she could feel the symptoms clearer now that she knew what to look for but she continued working until late in the morning.

Weirdly or not, Murphy was okay, somehow he was immune to the virus this time but they both knew this could've happened. Clarke tried to stay clear of Raven hoping she could avoid infecting the girl for a little longer than last time though she wasn't sure it would work at all but when she started feeling the blood drop from her eyes and the cries of her name, she knew they started a countdown. She wiped her eyes and went to the source of the yell, she found Connor and Derek already spilling blood as everyone started pulling away from the boys.

"What is happening? It won't stop." The dark boy said and she nodded. "I know. Come on." She grabbed one of his arms and started helping him. Raven came out of her tent and looked at Clarke who nodded at her and she nodded back before getting back inside. She passed by and saw Murphy by the dropship door with Derek who could barely hold himself up and she motioned for him to go inside and they did just in time to see Dax spitting blood. She put Connor down and went to the boy's side.

"Dax, tell me how did you escape from the grounders?" she asked him and he turned to her. "I didn't. They forgot to lock the cage and no one was there so I just ran as fast as I could. What else was I supposed to do? Stay there and wait for them to return? To start beating me up again? No way." He said to her and she sighed at him. "They didn't forget to lock your door, you idiot. They let you go." She said to him just as Bellamy came inside. "Bellamy, stay back. Do not come closer." She said to him and he was shocked by how sick she looked.

"Did he do something to you?" he asked her and she shook her head. "What the hell is this?" he asked her and she sighed. "Retaliation in the form of biological warfare. Dax is the weapon. It must be some kind of virus." She said to him and grabbed a rag and put it on his forehead. "Is this your revenge? Helping the grounder kill us all?" Bellamy asked the guy angrily. "He didn't know about it. It's not like they announced it. They tricked him and he did exactly what they wanted." Murphy said to him and Clarke nodded.

"Dax, think. Is there anything you can tell us that can be useful? Did you see anything? Hear anything?" she asked the guy but he shook his head. "Start speaking." Bellamy said moving forward. "Stop. Whatever it is spreads through contact so you need to stay away." She said as Finn came inside. "Clarke." He said as he came to stand beside Bellamy. "Finn, you shouldn't be here." She said. "I heard you were sick." He said and she looked at Murphy. "Stop anyone else from coming in, please." She said to him and he nodded going outside. "Clarke, what is this?" Finn asked her and she sighed. "I don't know for sure. Some kind of hemorrhagic fever. We need to contain before…" she was saying when Derek started coughing and shaking violently.

She stood up to go to him and Finn grabbed her but she pulled away before he could. "Don't touch me, you can get sick, wash your hand with alcohol, now." She said to him as she went to the boy who was spilling blood. "What the hell is happening to him?" Finn asked her confused. "His immune system is not strong enough to fight the virus." She said and she kneeled down as he stopped shaking and checked his pulse. "Is he?" Bellamy asked her and she nodded. "He's dead." She said to him as Finn washed his hands and looked at her.

"What do we do now?" he asked and she stood up. "Quarantine, gather everyone who had contact with Dax and bring them here. Avoid contact with anyone." She said to them and Finn moved out to do it. "And everyone they had contact with?" Bellamy asked her and she scoffed. "We've got start somewhere, any better ideas, Dr. Blake?" she said sarcastically and turned to Connor. "Who was with you when you found him, Connor?" she asked knowing the answer. "The one who found him was Octavia." He said with difficulty and all Clarke saw was Bellamy leaving the dropship, just as the first people started coming in.

"Sit down. You, come here." She said, grabbing a flashlight and checked the first person. "No symptoms. Third level." She said and the girl started going up and she started sorting them out. Symptomatic, second level. Grave symptoms, first level with her. One by one, she started sorting them out. Jessica was sorted to the second level, Charlotte and Wells didn't have symptoms so they stayed outside, Clarke was finishing checking on someone when Bellamy brought Octavia in for examination and Clarke checked her as more people got in.

"Okay, we're done. No visible signs of swelling or bleeding." She said leaning against the ladder. "So you're saying she doesn't have it?" Bellamy asked her and she shook her head. "I'm saying she doesn't symptoms but that can change. She needs to stay here just in case." She said to him and he shook his head. "No way, look at this place. You get sick just being here." He said and was probably right but Octavia was immune. "Do you want to stop the spread or not?" She said and he looked conflicted. "She will be on the third level with the others who aren't symptomatic yet. She will be fine. I will let you know if her condition changes." She said and he nodded leaving as Octavia moved towards the ladder.

"Actually, I have a mission for you." Clarke said stopping her. "Me?" Octavia asked the blonde and she nodded. "I want you to sneak out and get to Lincoln. Find out if he has a cure or not." She said to the girl and Octavia nodded, "Of course," She said and Clarke smiled at her eagerness to see him, she can understand the younger Blake perfectly, she wished her love was as close to her as Lincoln is to Octavia. "Okay, then go before Bellamy gets back." Clarke said and the younger Blake didn't waste a second as she quickly left and Clarke went back to treating the others who were getting worse while trying her best to stay awake.

She tried her best to help them but about half an hour later, a girl died. She got a few of the boys to carry her body outside as she watched as well as everyone else. Two dead, so far. She looked at Charlotte and Wells and smiled weakly at them who smiled sadly back at her too. She could see Murphy and Raven and nodded at them and could also feel Finn's stare on her but she ignored him. "Alright. Show is over, get back to your post." Bellamy said to everyone who started moving away before he went closer to her.

"Got enough food in there? Water?" he asked her and she nodded. "Medicine would be heaven, if you can make some appear, we would appreciate it." She said and he laughed. "I will see what I can do." He said smiling at her. "Bellamy, there is something I have to tell you that you are not going to like it." She said and he nodded waiting for her to continue. "I sent Octavia to see Lincoln for a cure." She said looking at him and he frowned immediately. "I'm sorry but if there is a cure, he has it and he would never hurt her. You know that as well as I do." She said to him and he looked at her.

"He is not the only grounder out there Clarke. Others could get to her." He said a little angry and she nodded. "I know but I trust Octavia, she is tougher than you think. I wouldn't have sent her if I thought she would be in danger, I promise she will be fine." She said and he sighed before nodding and turning around walking away, she was glad he accepted what she did better this time but as she saw him stop in front of a boy who was bleeding, she knew what would happen right about now.

Everyone started panicking and more people were getting sick and guns were being pointed at one another and she went inside the dropship, grabbed a rifle, walked outside and fired three times to the sky, finally getting everyone's attention. "Stop now. We don't need to panic. If we do, it is only going to help the grounders kill us." She said walking forward. "They won't have to kill us if we all catch the virus. Get back in the drop ship." The same boy from last time said pointing the gun at her but only this time, before Bellamy could move, Murphy was already taking the gun of his hand and kicking him to the ground and resting the barrel of the gun in the guy's forehead.

"Just try, any one of you. Try to point a gun at Clarke and see if you don't find yourselves with a hole on your head." He said threatening and Clarke called to him. "Murphy." She said and he dropped the gun and went to her just in time to catch her as he lifted her in his arms. "Hey, stay with us. I can't watch all these idiots by myself." He said to her and she nodded. "I am still with you, dumbass." She managed, "Octavia will bring the cure." She said just as the girl came in. "There is no cure." She said to them as Bellamy turned to her and she continued, "But the grounders don't use the sickness to kill." She said. "Really? Tell that to them." He said pointing at the two bodies.

"I warned you about seeing that grounder again." He said to her. "Yeah, well. I have a warning for you too. The grounders are coming and are attacking at first light." She said as everyone started whispering to themselves and she moved towards Clarke as Bellamy tried to hold her and she shrugged him off. "Come on. Let's get her inside." She said to Murphy who carried Clarke in. Dax was lying on a hammock. "You. Out." Murphy said to him and the boy got off and he put Clarke in there. "Lincoln said the virus doesn't last long." She said to Murphy and went to get Clarke some water as Finn came inside and went to Clarke's side.

"It's true, I feel better already." Dax said to them and Clarke looked at Murphy and he nodded. The boy's time was up. "They need to stay hydrated." Clarke instructed and Finn looked at her. "You need to stay hydrated." He said as Octavia came and gave her a cup of water, she took one sip and gave it back. "Now them. Please." She said and the girl looked at her with admiration before moving to do as she said. "If the grounders get here, there will be no one left to fight back. Guess that is their point. We need to delay them." Murphy said.

"Go to Raven. She knows what to do." Clarke said barely and he nodded as he left along with Finn to where Raven was and as they got inside, they ended up hearing the last bit of the discussion. "It won't matter if there is no one left to shoot. What do you need to build a bomb?" Finn asked her and Raven looked at Murphy. "Clarke's orders?" she asked him and he nodded. "Yes, ma'am." He said saluting and she nodded. "Okay, boys, follow me. The rest of you keep working." She said and went out, the other three following her to her workshop tent.

"Okay, can you two explain to us what the hell is happening and what does Clarke have to do with all of this?" Bellamy asked Raven and Murphy as they all got inside the tent and Raven went to gather the container of hydrazine and showed them. "After the disaster on the bridge, Clarke knew that there would be retaliation, possibly an attack not like this but she is a cautious person so when the Exodus ship crashed, we talked and she had the idea for us to check the place for hydrazine or rocket fuel, exactly so we could built a bomb in case of need." She explained to the boys.

"Just before she got sick, she told us that Dax mentioned a bridge, must be the one you guys saw and she gave me and Raven the orders that in case Octavia came back and there was no cure the sickness that we should start preparing a bomb to blow the bridge up as a way to delay them and give us more time to recover so that we could fight back." Murphy explained as Raven started working putting the hydrazine in the container and marked an X on it. "Clarke ordered all of this?" Finn asked them. "You know, you really should have more faith that she knows what she is doing. It's no coincidence she is our leader." Murphy said smirking.

"Okay, then let's go." Bellamy said but Raven shook her head. "We can't. If we leave now, it will be night when we get there and if we manage to shoot it at night, they will have time to think of another way to get here at dawn and it would all be for nothing. No, we have to leave during the night so we can get there by morning just before they come through so they won't have a choice but to delay the attack a few hours or a few days." She explained to them and they nodded seeing the reason in what she was saying. "And what do we do now?" Finn asked and Murphy answered.

"Now, we wait till dark and take care of the sick people as best as we can in the meantime."


	56. IT GOES KABOOM

It goes kaboom

It was already dark when Bellamy and Finn came to Raven's tent. "So the bomb, if we go now, we should be able to reach the bridge in time, just like you said." Bellamy said to her and she could see he was getting sick, he was looking pale and she was started to feel it as well but she nodded. "Yes, when it comes to planting it all you need to do is put the gunpowder around it and shoot straight." She said explaining to them. "That's the rest of our gunpowder. We won't be able to make any more bullets." Bellamy said to her and she nodded crossing her arms.

"Tonight, we need a bomb. We can worry about bullets tomorrow." Finn said to him as they looked at Bellamy. "If we do this and it doesn't work, we will all be dead tomorrow." Bellamy said looking at Finn. "Then, we make sure it works. To be safe, you need to be at least two hundred feet away to make the shot." Raven said to Bellamy and he nodded. "No problem. Which one of you plants the bomb?" he asked. "I will. I make things go boom." Raven said. "I'll help you." Finn said and she nodded. She was going to need help anyway.

"You won't pick up a gun but blowing people up, that, you're okay with?" Bellamy asked Finn and Raven shuddered remembered what happened when Finn did pick up a gun. 18 innocent people massacred. She is so not letting that happen again, she loved Finn and she always will but now she can see that what he did was horrible and the fact that Lexa asked for only his life in return was more merciful than what his actions deserved but this time there will be no massacre, no Finn dying, not if she has a say in it.

"We're blowing up a bridge. There won't be any people on it." Finn said and Raven thought to herself, yes there will. Jasper will have to take the shot and she was quiet sure he wouldn't hit it the first time but she stayed quiet, they didn't need to know that. "Finn, we have one bomb. We need to use it to kill as many of those bastards as possible." Bellamy said it as she watched. "They don't know we only have one bomb. If we did, why waste it on a bridge? I'm talking about deterrence. Peace through strength." Finn said to them.

"Appearance of strength is more like it." She said to them and Finn nodded. "The man who made the A-bomb thought they were peacemakers too. How did that work out for them?" Bellamy said as his nose started bleeding and by the look on Finn's face, Bellamy noticed it and wiped it. "Don't touch anything and go straight to the drop ship. Finn, take him." Raven said, Bellamy tried to protest it. "You need help, accept it. Finn, go. I will wait for you." She said and the boy helped Bellamy walk out and she went out too and watched him help Bellamy fell down and two boys came to help carry him and Finn walked back towards her.

"Who else can take the shot?" he asked her and she sighed. "There are only two people but with Clarke sick, Murphy is out and now so is Bellamy. I guess there is only one other person I can think of that can do it." She said looking at him before looking at the bonfire. "Jasper, Monty come here." She called out to them and the boys looked at her. "How sure of this are you?" Finn asked as they came. "Hey, Raven. What's up?" Monty asked her. "Bellamy is sick and we need someone to shoot the bomb and despite the disaster you caused, I know you can do it, Jasper." She said to him and he was shocked.

"Me? But Clarke said…" he was saying but she nodded interrupting. "Yeah, I know that Clarke doesn't want you doing stuff like this but we are out of options and we need to be on our way in ten. Can you or can you not do it?" she asked seriously and he nodded. "I can." He said firmly and Monty squeezed his shoulders. "Okay, both of you get ready. Monty, you're coming as moral support. Now get a weapon and meet us here." She said to them and the boys nodded leaving. "Raven, what if he doesn't make it?" Finn asked and she looked at him. "He will." She said before going back inside the tent and he followed her in and soon enough the four friends left to accomplish their mission.

Meanwhile in the dropship, Murphy was helping Connor as Octavia took care of Clarke when they brought Bellamy in. "Clear some space." She said to the others and the guys who brought him in laid him down as he stated choking on the blood before Octavia turned him on his side to help him spit it out and Murphy he block out the conversation between the siblings and just watched Dax watch Bellamy closely. All Murphy was waiting for was a good opportunity to do it and he knew exactly when that would be. The opportunity came a few hours later when Clarke woke up and he and Octavia went to her side. "How are you feeling?" Octavia asked and the blonde smiled.

"A lot better. Thank you." She said already getting up and seeing Dax and Bellamy and almost everyone except her and the other two was sleeping with a cough sounding here and there but when she looked at Murphy, she understood the meaning of his look. "You've been here all night, O, go and get some rest. I'm feeling better, I will help Murphy." She said to Octavia who looked at her brother. "Don't worry, he's asleep. When he wakes up, I will send Murphy to get you." Clarke said and Octavia smiled at her. "Okay, I'm glad you're better. This camp is a mess without you," She said and Clarke smiled.

"Thanks, now, go and try to sleep. It will do you some good." She said and the girl nodded leaving the place after checking on Bellamy one more time and a few minutes after she walked away, Clarke turned to Murphy. "Do it." She said and he nodded. Luckily for them, Dax was in a corner where you couldn't see well if you didn't look for it so Clarke made sure to cover the view as Murphy went to him. Given the number of wounds and marks on him, Murphy was not afraid as he swiftly grabbed the boy's neck and started to tighten his arm around it cutting the air. The boy immediately woke up, in panic but Murphy subdued him and within seconds, he was dead. The guys was a piece of shit so he didn't feel bad about it.

So once he was sure the guy was really dead, he stood up, grabbed a rag and cleaned his hands before walking away. Clarke looked at him. "And?" she whispered and he nodded. "Done." He said and she nodded. "Thank you." She said hugging him and he shook his head hugging her back. "It's okay. It's what I am here for." He said pulling back from the hug as he went back to help her take care of the sick ones before she stopped and looked at him. "Who went to shoot the bomb?" she asked him. "Jasper." He said and she sighed. She had a feeling it would be him but deep down, she had hoped it wasn't. "Raven?" she asked. "Went with him, Finn and Monty." He explained and she nodded.

Hours went by with the four of them walking through the woods and halfway through it, Raven started feeling sicker and sicker and bleeding a little but she ushered them to get on and to continue and despite that Finn wanted her to stop, that was what they did until they got closer to the bridge and they started hearing the war drums, to which Jasper questioned if they weren't moving towards them but Raven assured them that it was fine so they just kept going, slower because of her, but when they got there, she moved forward however Finn stopped her. "I'll do it." He said and she shook her head.

"No, I will do it. You will blow yourself up if you try it. Now let me go." She said to him trying to move past him but he still didn't let her go. "Finn, we're wasting time. Trust me." She said to him and he nodded hugging her before she started to go. She couldn't walk fast so she went slowly and got to the middle of the bridge though her vision was getting blurred along the way, but when she kneeled down, she started carefully removing the ingredients from her bag and started making the bomb.

Back in camp, Bellamy woke up startled, sat up on the cot he was laying down in and looked around to see the sick people before Clarke offered him a glass of water. "Here. Drink it all." She said sitting down beside him as he drank before his nose started bleeding and she gave him a cloth to wipe it before he looked at her. "Feeling better?" he asked noticing she was looking so sick as before and she nodded. "I am." She said and he nodded back. "That's good. You've seen Octavia?" he asked. "She was up all night helping people. I gave her a break, she is probably sleeping." She said and he smiled a little.

"It's dawn. We better get everyone inside, if we lock the doors maybe the grounders will think we left." He said to her and she titled her head. "Not everyone is sick." She said to him. "Sick is better than dead." He said and she nodded looking at him. "You don't think they can pull it off?" she asked him smirking and he looked at her. "Do you?" he asked curious and she nodded her head. "I do. They will do it. Have a little faith. I'm going outside, if you feel better, you can come with me." She said to him and stood up walking away and standing by the drop ship door watching everyone work.

She saw Charlotte wave at her and mouth the words 'are you better' and she smiled at her concern and nodded as they smiled at each other and when she felt Bellamy come to her side and she turned her head to the side to look at him. "You two are very close." He said talking about her and Charlotte and she nodded. "She is practically my little sister." She said and he nodded. "I think that helps me understand why you are so protective of Octavia. If anything happened to Charlotte," She said and didn't finish the phrase.

"Yeah, even if sometimes she drives me crazy and we say things that we don't mean but she is still my little sister. Sometimes I look at her and all I see is that bloodied little baby that I held in my arms and everything else is not as important as keeping her safe which leads me to be annoying her a lot." He said and she smiled. "I guess what you need to remember is that she is a woman and she can choose for herself but just because she has grown doesn't mean she doesn't need you." Clarke said as he listened.

"The trick is she doesn't need your protection as much as she just needs your support. I am speaking from experience, my mom is just like you and make no mistake when she comes down she will want to protect me from a fly but that is not what I need. I need her to stand by me and what I chose if it will get me hurt, I just need her to hold my hand through it. Octavia is the same." She said as she looked at him. "Food for thought." She said to him and he nodded as they suddenly heard the explosion and saw the mushroom cloud that formed in the Sky. She looked at it and sighed. "I am become death, destroyer of worlds." She said without the explanation as she knew that it wasn't needed.

"Okay everyone. We delayed the attack but that doesn't mean we have time to waste so get back to work. The sick are getting better but they are not quite there yet so you will have to make do for now." She said to everyone and went back inside to continue caring for the sick. It was about an hour later when she and Murphy walked outside and dropped Dax's body with the others. "So they destroyed the bridge. What now?" he asked her lowly and she looked at him. "We follow the script. Except yours. Please, don't shoot Raven or hang Bellamy." She said and he nodded. "You got it." He said and she hugged him by the side.

"Hey, it's them. Open the gates." Harper called out and as the boys came in, everyone started cheering for them and Clarke smiled at Jasper as he sheepishly looked at her. She shook her head smiling before she saw Finn carrying Raven. "Murphy, come on." She said to the boy pulling back from the hug and started running there as Murphy pulled Raven on his arms like he did with Clarke and went back with her towards the dropship and put the mechanic on the hammock as Clarke and Finn followed him. Clarke went to check her pulse as Murphy got her some water and Finn watched how they worked together.

"She is getting stronger. A few hours of sleep and a lot of water and she will be fine." She said and kissed the girl's feverish forehead. "You're going to be fine, pretty bird." She whispered to her and Raven smiled. "I hope so." She said and they smiled as Clarke hugged her. "Murphy here will stay with you. I will come back in a few to check on you, okay pretty bird?" Clarke said pulling back and Raven nodded weakly and squeezed her hand bringing her back so she could whisper on the blonde's ear. "There were grounders on the bridge." She said warningly and Clarke smiled at her.

"I know and don't worry about that for now. Just focus on getting better." She said and the girl nodded before Clarke turned and left passing by Finn on her way. "Hey, look who has the ugly face now?" Murphy said to Raven and she chuckled a little. "I'm still prettier than you, asshole." She said joking with him and Finn decided to leave feeling like he was intruding. Meanwhile, the sky went dark and Clarke walked outside of the gates to where the graves had been dug and looked at it just as Bellamy came. "You're outside the wall without a gun." He said to her as he came to her side and she looked at him.

"Nine graves." She said looking at them. "Do you know what happened to Dax? He was getting better." He asked her and she shook her head. "No, we just found him dead." She lied swiftly. "Octavia said the Mountain Men are pissed, whatever that means." He said and she felt a chill on her body at the mention of that. "I say it means we need as many soldiers as we can get." She said and looked at him. "It's not easy running things, Bellamy. Specially in war, which is why we should try to avoid one at all costs. Always keep that in mind, okay?" she said to him and walked back inside camp, leaving him to think about her words.


	57. Saving one life

Saving one life

Clarke was in the forest, not far from the entrance of camp, she was looking out at the horizon of the green jungle in front of her. If her calculations are correct, tomorrow is the attack which means that if she takes the same amount of time to escape Mount Weather and get back to what would be Camp Jaha, in a more or less than a week, she will be reunited with Lexa and will be able to trigger her and have her in her arms again and just the thought of that, was able to make a smile appear on her face but the sound of Bellamy's voice brought her back.

Immediately, he came to her side. "Anything?" he asked and she shook her head. "Nothing. It's been two days, maybe the bomb on the bridge scared them off for good." She said shrugging and he looked at her. "You believe that?" he asked and she shook her head. "Of course not, they're coming and with more thirst for our blood than ever." She said and turned to leave and he followed. "Jasper thinks he can cook up some more gunpowder if he gets some sulfur and Raven said she can turn that to land mines so careful where you step." He said and she chuckled. "You are adorable." She said as they got down.

"Not really. Need a thousand more of tin can bomb so I can roll into their village and blow these grounders to hell." He said and she looked at him. "What? It's what they want to do to us." He said. "Even if we had that many, I wouldn't let you do that. We didn't survive the first bombs just to annihilate each other with more bombs a hundred years later." She said to him and he looked at her nodding. "Any word from the Ark?" he asked her and she nodded. "I spoke with Kane, he said that they will only be ready in two days so we need to hold tight until then." She said to him.

She spoke with the man alone to tell him of what was going on down with them and for him to tell her what was going on up there and project Exodus of the Ark was well under way but it really would take two days to prepare everything. Her parents were coordinating it along with him to make sure that the highest number of people can survive getting down to Earth which is already considerably than the last time since he disabled the bombs and the Exodus ship didn't destroy the Ark while coming down.

"Let's just hope we can do that." He said and they both walked away, Bellamy to check patrols and Clarke to go inside the camp. She saw Wells on one of the post with the rifle and she went to him. She got up where he was and he smiled when he saw it was her. "If it isn't Her Highness." He said and she chuckled before playfully punching him in the arm. "Very funny, every thought about being a clown?" She said and he nodded. "If I did, would you paint my face?" he said and they laughed.

"How is everything going?" He asked her and she sighed leaning against the wall. "I don't know. There is radio silence from the grounders which I don't think is a good sign for us at all. The Ark is coming down and I am afraid of what our people will do once they get here. I mean, can they adapt to what life is like here or will they make more of a mess with the grounders than we already have? Twice, may I add. Am I doing the right thing or not? There is just a lot going on, believe me. Being a leader is not all its cracked up to be." She explained to the boy and he nodded.

"I know. I honestly never thought it would be but there is a pretty good reason why you are the one to do it, Clarke. Because that is who you are." He said to her as she sighed. "You are the person who takes charge of things because she knows what is best. You are the person that would help someone with PTSD, or an orphan, or a nameless stranger if they needed your help. You like to take care of people, it's in your nature. There is no way you would have let them do whatever the hell they wanted." He said to her and she nodded.

"I know but it's not easy being charge all the time. Having to make decisions for everyone." She said and he nodded. "Which is why you have us to help you. Me, Murphy, Raven, even Bellamy. You're not alone, you know that right? I am right here you, no matter what. Always." He said and she nodded smiling. "You have no idea how good is to know that I can count on you. You're the best best friend I could have asked for and if ever made you feel bad, I am sorry." She said and he looked at her curiously titling his head to the side.

"Why are you talking as if we are not going to see each other again? As if you gave up? You don't think we can win?" he asked her and she laughed shaking her head. "Oh Wells, believe me. I have no plans on dying, I have too much to live for to just give it all up like this, you know I am not like that, a quitter. As long as I am still breathing, I will keep fighting and as for the battle, I think we will win, I just know it won't be easy to do that and not all of us will survive and that makes me sad, I wish we didn't have to fight at ll." She said shrugging and he nodded.

"Unfortunately, that's true." He said as they looked at the trees and Clarke thought about what was to come for her today when suddenly, they heard the screams of everyone and as they looked back, they saw the fire on the meat house, they both got down from when they were and went towards the crowd. Clarke was okay with letting that because that was how she would get captured by Anya later on. Hunting for meat. Bellamy went to stop the fight between two boys as she started helping Octavia who was coughing from the smoke.

It took them half an hour to put the fire out but when they did, there was nothing left of the place or the food. Clarke went to find Bellamy by the ashes. "Do you know what happened?" she asked. "Del kept feeding the fire, mostly because Octavia told him not to." Murphy said as he joined them and she nodded at him. "Well, we have some wild onions and nuts in the drop ship. It's only enough to last us maybe one or two weeks." She said and Murphy scoffed. "If we are that lucky, blondie and since Del established that we're not and everything in here was burned, we need to go hunting." He said and she nodded.

"With the whole grounder army out there? Are you both crazy or something?" Bellamy asked them. "What do you expect us to do? We need to eat. Anyone we can spare goes out. Murphy, you stay and watch security. Bellamy, you help me get the people." Clarke said to the boys and along with Bellamy, they passed by Charlotte and Wells. "The two of you, I need your help. Charlotte, I need you to check the nuts and whatever we have on the drop ship and make sure that everyone gets a share and help Murphy avoid more fires, we really can't handle another one." Clarke said instructing the young girl.

"Where are you going?" Charlotte asked her worriedly. "A few of us will go hunting, we need food or we will not be able to defend ourselves against the grounders, thanks to Del and his stupidity, we no longer have meat so we need to go out but while we do that, I need you to stay here and help me with what I asked you to do. If you don't, there will be an even worse mess than the one we already have and I swear to God that I will kill someone in here if we lose any more food so can you please help me? Pretty please?" She said pouting to convince Charlotte and the little girl laughed.

"I will get to work. Be careful, okay?" she said and hugged Clarke and the blonde hugged the girl back. "I will." She said and Charlotte went on her way to where the berries and nuts were. "I will go with you." Wells said and she shook her head. "No, what I need from you is to help Raven with the bullets and Jasper with the gunpowder. She can't do it all by herself. Help her and you help me more than you know." She said and he sighed. "I worry about you." He said to her and she shook her head. "Don't. I have to go." She said giving him a kiss on the cheek and a quick hub as she went inside the drop ship.

"Each group takes someone with a gun and they are for killing grounders, not food. We don't have the ammo. Use the spears for hunting. Get what you can. Be back by nightfall. No one stays out after dark." Bellamy said to the crowd he gathered and as he left and Clarke went to grab a spear, she was once again stopped by the boy named Miles. "Hey, Clarke. You alone? You maybe, possibly want to go together?" he said shyly and she nodded. "Yeah, I'll get some gear." She said and went get a spear. "You ready to go?" Finn said joining her and she sighed.

"Just grab a weapon, Finn." She said turned back and pulled Miles as he started talking to them all the way out of camp until Finn shut him up saying that talking and noise would scare away the animals so that made him shut up and Clarke realized that they were going in the same direction as before. They walked and walked until Finn stopped them, seeing some tracks and he checked as Miles started talking again and she paid attention to the forest, waiting for a sign that they were there though she could fell it.

"One of those scaly panther things?" Miles asked them. "Boar." Finn said as he moved forward and Clarke followed him kneeling down to check the next pair of tracks. "Good, because the panther meat is nasty but I could eat a whole boar by myself, no joke. You know what the best part of the boar is? It's going to sound gross." The by kept saying and Clarke shut him up. "Miles, shut up and get down here." She said to him and he did as she said and came to join them and knelt down. "Something is wrong." She said and Finn nodded.

"These tracks." He pointed out. "They're perfect." She said to him and he looked out. "Too perfect. We're the ones being hunted." He said and Miles moved to get up but Clarke grabbed his rifle and hit him on the head and he was knocked out cold just as an arrow passed by where he would be. "We got to leave." Finn said and she shook her head. "It's too late, they're here. Just do what I say." She said to him and threw the gun and herself on the ground pulling Finn with her. "We surrender." She called out. "Clarke." Finn said to her and she shushed him.

"Trust me." She said looking at him and he nodded even though he was confused as grounders suddenly appeared and grabbed their hands pulling them up and tying them on a rope and without a word started pulling them through the forest. Finn tried to speak but she shook her head and he kept quiet, the rest of the way until they came inside the same place as last time so Clarke knew what was going on when the guy who was pulling them dropped them to the ground and went inside.

"We walked for about three miles…" Finn started whispering but she cut him off. "It doesn't matter, Finn. We are not blindfolded, that means they don't care if we see where we're going. So stay quiet and let me deal with this before they kill us." She said as the grounder guy came to them and pulled them up and inside the room. He pushed them to the ground again and looked behind them as Anya walked in between her and Finn, took out her sword and moved towards Clarke as Finn struggled as a warrior held him back and Anya cut of her tie and Clarke looked at her as another warrior opened some curtain and a third one pulled her up.

And she saw the girl, Tris. "Help her. If she dies, he dies." Anya said and pointed her sword at Fin and Clarke sighed already expecting that. "Okay, I will try but I need instruments, whatever you can provide me with." She said as she took off her jacket and pulled up her sleeves going straight to check on the girl. "Okay, what is her name?" Clarke asked Anya while checking Tris' injuries. "Her name is Tris." Anya said and Clarke caressed the girl's head. "Hi, Tris. That is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I'm Clarke, can you understand me? Lift your hand if yes." She said softly and the girl raised her hand.

"Okay, that is very good. Now, I need your help telling me what you feel, just lift your hand if yes, okay?" she asked and hand went up. "Are you having difficulty in breathing?" she asked and the hand went up quickly as Anya came to closer to watch. "Okay, Anya, I will need you to help me lift her up." She said and the woman nodded and they lifted her and Clarke put her ear on her back. "What are you doing?" Anya asked her. "Checking her lungs. The left one is not moving. I believe there is fluid pressing on her lungs." She said and pulled the girl back down on the table.

"Is there an exit wound?" Finn asked her as Clarke moved to check the equipment that the warrior brought. "No, it wasn't shrapnel, it was trauma. She was on the bridge, wasn't she?" she asked as she grabbed the scalpel. "Yes, how you know?" Anya asked. "Her chest was hit by a huge force, like an explosion and she's drowning in her own blood." Clarke explained as she went to where she knew she would find what she needed and when she had it, she moved to the girl lifting up her shirt. "Fifth intercostal space." She said and made the cut.

"What are you doing?" Anya asked ready to move on her but Clarke looked up at her. "Stop. You brought me here to save her and I can't do that if you question what I am doing every time I do something, if you do that and distract me, I could make things worse. I'm helping her, you need to trust me." She said as she put the tube on her and the girl started to breathe a little better. "See?" Clarke said and went to check her temperature, noticing she was getting hot. "She is getting hot. She's probably septic." Clarke said. "What does that mean?" Anya asked. "It means her blood is poisoned. I need to make a transfusion." She said to the warrior.

Clarke started looking for it. "What are you looking for?" Another warrior asked her. "A syringe, the biggest one you can find and a hollow needle, if you have it." She said to him and he went looking for it. "Look, Anya, I am going to explain this the best way I can, okay?" she said and the woman nodded. "There are different types of blood. Type A, B, AB and O. Each of these can be positive or negative. Me and Finn are O negative that means we can give our blood to anyone and nothing bad will happen to them so that is what I am going to do with Tris. I am going to give her some of my blood and help clean hers so she can get better. You understand?" she asked the woman.

"Yes, I do." The woman said just as the warrior came back with what she asked. "Okay, now can you find me something to tie around her arm and mine, it can be a strip of clothing." She said and once she had it, she started preparing and started the transfusion. The grounders were shocked seeing blood coming out of Clarke and into the girl and blood coming out of the girl. "Will this save her?" Anya asked her and Clarke looked at her and at Tris. "If it doesn't, then there is nothing anyone could have done for her." She said and the woman nodded before Clarke turned the warrior.

"I'm going to need a chair, please."


	58. The Mountain comes closer

The mountain comes closer

Meanwhile in camp, it already got dark and obviously avoiding the whole having sex with Bellamy to spite Finn, which wasn't one of her greatest decisions, she would admit, Raven went to talk to Murphy who was on watch duty. "Hey, what's up?" he asked her and she looked around making sure that there were no one close to listen to their conversation and still she made sure to speak only loud enough so he could hear. "Clarke and Finn were captured and will probably only come back tomorrow." She said to him and he nodded.

"Yeah, I know that." He said and she sighed. "Last time, we went searching for them and that's how Monty gets captured. We need to make that happen again so we need to go out there like we did last time." She said to him and he took a deep breath. "Okay, you go do that and I will make sure that no one else leaves here." He said to her and she nodded. "First, I need to do something else but keep watch, especially on Wells and Charlotte." She said to him and he nodded. "You got it." He said and she hugged him before moving through camp until she got to the drop ship where Monty was working on what they found at the crash site.

"I found some good antenna wires for the radios. This guy was using to fix his bed. You find anything else from the Exodus ship wreckage?" she said to the younger boy. "Yeah, data log. Want to hear something weird?" he said and a radio static started and Raven knew that it was the Mountain Men who jammed the signal and caused the crash but she kept her mouth hut on that. "Sounds like interference." She said. "Wait. It gets weirder. When the signal hit, their navigational system went nuts. They never got it back and boom. It's like something was jamming the signal." He said and she nodded, yeah, a bunch of bone marrow stealing monsters kind of something.

"That is weird and it also makes no sense whatsoever." She said to him playing innocent. "Pull the drive-in speakers." She said to him. "You want to strip it? We'll never find out where they crashed." He said to her and she nodded. "We need every component we can get our hands on if we're gonna make walkies and I need the radio." She said moving to it and he stopped her once again. "No way. How are we supposed to contact the Ark?" he asked. "The Ark already made contact with Clarke and told her that they will be coming down tomorrow. We need this. Relax." She said to him.

"My family is up there. What if our connection ends? This is the only way we could try to talk to them again." He said and she sighed. "I know, Monty. The Griffins are like my family too but they are coming down soon enough and we need the walkies right now. We can survive not talking to them for a day or two." She said and turned it off when there was noise outside and she went out to check if it was what she was thinking and she saw the hunters getting back but no sign of Clarke and Finn. She looked at Murphy who nodded and she nodded back soon enough they would be leaving soon and she needed to finish the walkies so she entered the drop ship again and got to work.

Back with Clarke, after about 2 hours, Clarke had stopped giving her blood and changed places with Finn who volunteered to help so she wouldn't get too weak and she didn't protest him. She didn't need to lose her strength now, she would need all of it until she was inside Mount Weather. In the meantime, she just waited for the young girl to get better. "What was she doing on the bridge?" she asked Anya who looked at her. "She was with me, she is my second." She said and Clarke nodded.

"A second? Is that like an apprentice? Someone you teach what you know to so they will do the same work and so on?" she asked and the woman nodded. "It is how we train them to be warriors, healers, farmers." Anya said agreeing and Clarke took a deep breath before she asked this question that was going around in her head since she came here. "Is she the first second you had?" she asked trying to sound only curious and not desperate and Anya looked at her searching for something that she didn't find apparently.

"No, I trained one more." Was all she said but just to have that connection with Lexa already made Clarke's heart beat faster and ache with longing for the green eyed brunette. "I was a second too, I guess." Clarke said and all the warriors looked at her curious. "My mother was the doctor on our home." She said but the grounders looked confused. "Doctor?" One asked and she looked at him. "Doctor is like, uh, a healer?" she said pretending not to know if it was the word and they nodded. "Yeah, she is the best healer we have. I used to go with her and I would watch her heal people and when I started understanding what she was doing, I started helping her. That is almost a second in your culture, right?" she said and they nodded.

"Our healer is gone. Lincoln told us that you are your people's so that is why we brought you here." Anya said and she nodded. "I figured it was him who told you since you couldn't have known otherwise but I didn't know he noticed that." She said to Anya. "My recovery." Finn said and she nodded. "Yeah. It must have been." She said to him. "What are you talking about?" Anya asked her and she turned to the woman. "Remember when we talked and you spoke about us capturing Lincoln?" Clarke asked and the woman nodded. "Well, earlier that day, he had saved one of my friends but her brother didn't know that and thought the worst." She started explaining.

"So a group of us when searching for her and found him, they thought they knocked him out but they didn't and he stabbed this one right here." She said and pointed at Finn who nodded. "He was brought to me and my friend's brother brought Lincoln thinking he would give us information on you, through torture." She explained. "He wouldn't have. We are trained to withstand it." One said and Clarke nodded. "Later, that was my guess but at that moment, I just didn't care and stopped him from touching Lincoln. Anyway, I was able to remove the dagger and stich him up." she said.

"What about the poison? The dagger must have been poisoned." Another said and she nodded. "It was but he had several vials with him and in a very rare strike of luck, I ended up choosing the right antidote. I don't know how I did, I just grabbed one and hoped for the best outcome and it worked. I guess that was what impressed Lincoln?" Clarke lied since she didn't want to get Lincoln in more trouble with them by telling the truth and luckily, Finn stayed quiet. "Ugh." The little girl made a noise and Clarke quickly moved to her side and went to check on her and the fever was gone.

"She is better. Is there something I can use to stitch her up and bandages? And water too." She asked and Anya nodded, moving for the warriors to get it. She stopped the process of transfusion and gave Finn a little of coagulant to put on the little wound and then put a little coagulant on the point of the needles on the girl's arms as well and when Anya came back with what she needed, she started stitching the girl up and wrapping her arms and middle on the bandages and when she was finished, she started caressing the girl's head.

"Tris, sweetheart. Can you hear me? Open your eyes for me. You can do it." She said with a gentle voice and slowly, very slowly the girl started opening her eyes. "That's it. You're doing great, sweetie." Clarke said gently as the girl fully opened her eyes. "Hi. What beautiful eyes you have. I thought I wouldn't get to see them." Clarke said with a smile. "Water." The girl whispered and Clarke nodded and grabbed a cup and brought to the girl's mouth and lifted her head up to help her drink. "Slowly, or else you will choke. Slowly. Like that. Very good." She said and laid the girl's head back down.

"Now, can you tell me if you feel hurt anywhere else?" she asked and the girl shook her head and Clarke smiled. "Your head?" she asked and the girl shook her head again and she smiled. "You were very brave, I couldn't have done this without you." She said to the girl and smiled before she turned to Anya. "She is going to be fine. She won't be able to move too much for at least four weeks while her chest heals from the impact and the rest of the wounds too, so I would advise that she stays in bed for those four weeks and if she is better, slowly easy her back to any activity so that she can give time for her body to adjust." She said to Anya who nodded and moved to speak with the girl in their language

Clarke went back to check on Finn who insisted that he was fine and after checking him, she knew he was. She grabbed her jacket and put it back on and stood by him as they waited. Soon enough, Anya turned to them. "Since you healed her, I will let you go back to your camp but don't think we will have mercy on you just because of this." She said and Clarke shook her head. "I didn't do it for that, I did it for her because she needed it. I was not expecting anything more than to have the happiness of saving her life so we're good." Clarke said to her.

"You're free to go." Anya said and they were about to leave when another warrior came in and started speaking in their language and Clarke could understand that he was saying that the orders were to kill them and Anya asked whose orders was that and he replied that Tristan. Suddenly a man grabbed Finn and started pulling him away and Clarke struggled against the one holding her back. "Anya, what is going on?" she asked her. "I am no longer in charge so there is nothing I can do." She said and got one of the warriors to pick up Tris and take her away as she followed leaving Clarke with only one guard with her.

"Anya will take no pleasure in killing your friend." The guard said and she looked at her angrily. "She will not kill him but I will kill you." She grabbed his arms twisted around, got him in a headlock and snapped his neck and let him fall down to the ground without making a sound. Then, she made to leave and took on the same direction she remembered from last time. If Tristan was there, then Clarke needed Lincoln to get her and Finn so they could find the Rippers and the only way to do that was getting captured like she did last time so she took in a run and that was exactly what she happened.

Back in camp, as soon as she finished the walkies, Raven convinced Bellamy, Octavia and Monty to go searching for Finn, Clarke and Miles that they knew didn't come back with the other hunters so now, they were on the woods searching for them. She was with Octavia and the boys were on their own. "Where are they?" Raven said lowly. "We'll find them." Octavia said. "I thought you said you were heading west." Monty said over radio. "Just keep the moon on your left and you'll find us." Bellamy also said over radio.

"Those idiot, of course they would find themselves in trouble." Raven said as they advanced. "Did you really think this was going to end in anything else but trouble?" Octavia asked her and she allowed a small smile. "Is anyone else hearing this signal?" Monty said as the radio made some noises. "Just keep your eyes open." She said like last time. "I think it's the same thing we heard on the black box." Monty said again. "Damn it, Monty. Pay attention. Do you see anything? Report." Bellamy said and when the boy didn't say anything, a static sound took over and Raven knew what that meant but she kept going.

"There's someone in the bushes." She said on the radio as the two girls raised their rifles and approached slowly the bushes and Octavia moved the bushes to see Miles there looking terrified as he looked at them. "Hey, guys. It's so good to see you." He said trembling as Raven noticed that there were no arrows on his body, Clarke must have stopped it. Bellamy joined them quickly. "Where are they? Clarke and Finn" Raven asked the shaking guy. "They suspected the grounders were hunting us and then I got knocked out before I saw anything else." He said to them and Raven sighed.

"We need to get home." Bellamy said to the group. "What about Clarke and Finn?" Octavia asked. "We can't get to them in this dark and face the grounders just by ourselves. We need to get back to camp and think of something tomorrow." Raven said and Bellamy spoke on the radio. "Monty, we're headed home. You copy?" he said but nothing so he tried again. "Monty, can you hear me? Monty." He said as they looked at each other. "Monty, where the hell are you?" he said. "Maybe he lost his walkie or lost signal." Raven said. "What do we do?" Octavia asked.

"Go back home and make sure no one else goes missing."


	59. An enemy is an enemy

An enemy is an enemy

Back in camp, as soon as they got back, Raven went straight to give the news to Murphy, making sure that no unwanted ears were around them. "Monty is gone. They took him." She said to him sadly and he nodded squeezing her shoulder. "We knew this would happen besides he is fine. They will not hurt him for now. He is perfectly safe, probably safer there than he would be here." He said to her and she nodded. "I know but it still doesn't make it easier. It felt like I was leading him to his death or something like that. But it's like you said. He will be fine and so will we." She said trying to convince herself and he nodded at her.

"Exactly. Now it was up to Clarke and Finn to get back here and save as many of us as they can." He said to her and she nodded. They both knew that Clarke would come through and would save them so with that in mind Raven quickly went to help Jasper with the landmines as a group stayed out for protection. "Come on, these foxholes won't build themselves." She heard Bellamy say as he got closer to where the two of them were working. "Better hope those landmines work." He said to them. "All the gunpowder we're wasting we could be making more grenades." He said sounding irritated.

"Bellamy, will you do us a favor and stop being a dickhead? Or I will make you test one of these just to answer your stupid question." Raven said to him. "Cute. I need this entire section mined by morning then you finish the south field." He said and was about to leave when she stopped him. "What about Clarke, Finn and Monty?" she asked already knowing his answer and he looked at her. "I don't know but we can't spare anyone else so nobody leaves the camp, end of story." He said to her just as they heard a gunshot and they got startled. He looked at the boy and went over to him. "What the hell is the matter with you?" he said coming up to where the boy was standing.

"I'm sorry, man. I fell asleep. I've been on watch all day." The boy said trying to justify himself to the older guy but Bellamy grabbed his collar. "We've all been on watch all day. That bullet was one less dead grounder." He said to him and she decided to step up and do something. "Okay, everybody, let's take a second, okay? Especially, you Captain Angry. Take a deep breath." She said to Bellamy who just looked at her before letting the boy go. Raven looked at Murphy who gave her an encouraging nod and she spoke up to the group.

"Look, I know everyone is scared out of their seats with what could happen to us. I know you're scared for your lives. So am I. The bomb and destroying the bridge only gave us a short amount of time to prepare what little we could before they attack us again and it is possible that the time is over and that they are coming for us right now as we speak." She said to them making sure to look at them. "I understand that because I have those fears myself but we need to chill out and work together." She said to them and looked at Murphy for support and he nodded at her stepping up to speak.

"Look, Red, Green and Blue Team. You are responsible for patrols so you will be switching every three hours, that way you can sleep a little. White and Black Team, I want you here with us. Grab a weapon and be on your guard. Eyes sharp. We can't afford to be losing battles within the camp and with ourselves. If you are tired, speak up and we will find someone to replace you. That is better than to have you sleep on duty. I don't want to see anyone being lazy, we can't afford that. If you can't contribute and is a dead weight, you're getting the hell out of here. Are we clear?" He said firmly leaving with the patrol units before Raven continued.

"Clarke, Finn and Monty have disappeared but knowing our leader as I do, I guarantee you. She is not dead and Finn is probably alive too. With Monty, we don't know what happened. So we are going to give them some time. If by midday, they are not back, we will go after them because that is what Clarke would do for any of us. Now, why don't we get back to work and make sure this camp is as best prepared for the grounders as we possibly can?" she said to all of them and they nodded as she turned to Bellamy.

"This is what we are going to do. End of story. Now go back inside, cool down and once you're good to be a nice team player again, you come back and help us. Because you exploding on every one if they make the smallest mistake is definitely not what we need right now. Bellamy so chill out." She said to him and went back to helping Jasper as Bellamy turned and left. "Thank you, Raven. I don't think he would have let us leave to go searching for them." Jasper said and she smiled at him. "You're welcome, now let's get this done." She said to him and they went straight back into work.

Meanwhile with Clarke, she was taken from the tree by a few warriors who hurt her a little and then she was brought to a little camp where Anya was, the same one as last time she presumed and as she sat down, she heard them as they talked on their language and they told the general that the guard left behind was dead with a broken neck and she looked at Clarke who kept her eyes focused on the ground and ignored her stare as Anya stayed seated by the fire. Then the horses started moving drawing their attention before a voice said. "Your left flank is vulnerable." Anya looked to her side to see Tristan there as the warriors moved around with their weapons drawn.

"My archers are in the trees with orders to kill anyone hostile." She called out as he started getting down. "You're not hostile, are you, Tristan?" she asked ironically as he moved closer to Clarke who stayed planted on her spot unlike last time since she wasn't afraid of him. "So this is the one who's beating you?" he said and she looked at him. "Who the hell are you?" she asked though she already knew. "I'm the man sent to slaughter your people." He said and she smirked. "Try to, you mean." She said and he backhanded her, drawing blood from her lips.

"The Commander is the one who sent you?" Anya asked distastefully, diverting his attention from the girl. Clarke took a deep breath hearing that title and knowing who it belongs to and keeping herself from asking for any news of Lexa. "Yes, thanks to your failures, your unit is mine now. My rangers are hungry, they're at the river. Go feed them." He said to the others and almost all of the warriors quickly followed his orders before he turned to Anya. "We march on the invaders camp at first light. I'll make quick work of what you failed to do." He said sounding overly confident before he turned to Clarke.

"Please, like you could do better than her." she said to him defending Anya and just before he moved to strike her, a warrior called out. "Anya, look. Over there." He said and Clarke saw the fire and smiled. Lincoln. "A signal fire." The woman said. "Reapers." Tristan said and Clarke shivered at that. "Let them know we see it." Anya called and the warrior moved to light the one on this side as well. "I'll send my fastest rider to warn the Commander." Anya said and Clarke could feel her necklace burning against her chest hearing them talk about Lexa.

"No, there is no time. Kill the prisoner and get to the river." He said and moved away just as a warrior came in looking at her and she knew it was Lincoln. "The boy is dead?" Anya asked and he nodded. "Kill the girl, then catch up." she said and walked away too as the grounder moved towards her and she stayed quiet as he grabbed the chains and pulled her forward and pulled up the knife. "Lincoln." She whispered and he faltered, looking around he saw that no one was there so he picked her up and went to the horse, grabbed one and started galloping away.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked by her ear. "The neck tattoo, I remembered." She said and he nodded as they continued and in a matter of few minutes got to the other side where there was the fire. He helped her down and got rid of her chains and she saw Finn and went to him slowly and hugged him. "I'm glad you're okay." She said and pulled it back quickly. "Lincoln, how far ahead of them are we?" she asked the man who removed the mask. "Clarke, how did you know?" Finn asked. "Not now, Finn." She said and moved to the grounder side.

"The signal fire worked." Finn said joining them as they looked out and saw the fire on the other side go out. "Not well enough." Lincoln said. "What does that mean?" Finn asked. "It means that Anya knows I am not dead and we need to go right now or we will all be dead." She said as Lincoln shooed the horse away. "Let's hope they follow the horse." He said as he moved and Clarke made Finn follow the man as they ran through the forest for about half an hour before Lincoln spoke to them again. "Come on, it's right up there." He said as they followed him up.

"What is?" Finn asked. "Some place they won't follow." He showed them the entrance as they stopped to get a breath. "Where does this lead?" Clarke asked looking inside. "Everywhere, there's a tunnel to your camp. If we make it through, we should get there before Tristan." He said as they heard the sound of horses and Lincoln saw them coming. "Go." He said and Clarke went in pulling Finn with her and Lincoln followed them as the other got closer and Anya got down from her horse, shot a few arrows inside, calling for Lincoln and moved to get inside but Tristan stopped her. "Anya, no. We know where they're going if the mine doesn't kill them first." He said as they all moved away from the entrance.

Clarke, Finn and Lincoln ran for a good while following Lincoln's lead and by the hour on her watch, the sun was close to coming up as they made a small fire as he made them a torch. "You were right, they didn't follow us." Finn said as the grounder looked around. "Reapers use these tunnels. Tristan wouldn't risk running into them." He said. "What the hell is a reaper?" Finn asked whispering. "Pray you never find out." Lincoln said and Clarke couldn't agree more but they would come in handy. "We have to keep moving." He said standing up and grunting as they noticed the arrow sticking on his back.

"Lincoln, you're hit." Finn said as he leaned against the wall. "Let me look at that." She said noticing that there was no exit wound. "I've fought battles with worse wounds than this." He said and she scoffed. "I imagine. Give me your knife." She said grabbing it and handling to Finn. "Heat the blade." She said as he put it on the fire of the torch. "You're helping us and it can not be just about Octavia. My guess is that you don't agree with your people's action and you're not the type of man who likes injustice." She said and he nodded.

"You're an honorable man, Lincoln. Octavia is lucky. Now, how well can you handle pain?" She said and he scoffed. "You people are so soft. If you don't learn to be more…" He said just as she pushed the arrow until it broke the skin in the front. Clarke then broke the tip of the arrow and removed the other part and got the blade from Finn and put it on the wound in the front and the one in the back closing it, once it was done she gave Lincoln his knife back. "Let's continue." She said to them and they kept moving through the tunnels until they got to a familiar part of it for Clarke.

Lincoln gave the torch to Finn and opened his book but before he could say anything, Clarke spoke. "Lincoln, what is that light?" she said pointed forward as the noises started. "Reapers." He grabbed and put out the torch and continued moving with the other two following him and soon they came to where the light was coming from. "This can't be the only way. Check the map." Finn whispered. "If you want to get home before Tristan slaughter your people, this is the only way." Lincoln said moving slowly and they followed him hiding behind a rock.

They looked at the group and Clarke could only sigh before Finn called her attention. "Clarke. The charts." He said to her and she looked at it and even knowing what she would see, it was still disgusting and to think that they are normal people turned into this by the Mountain Men. Lincoln turned back to them. "The tunnel on the right will lead you through the woods to your camp. Take this." He said giving his book to Finn. "What are you going to do?" Finn asked the grounder putting the book inside his jacket.

"I'm going to lead them away. Wait until they follow me and run. Don't stop." Lincoln said as he removed his sword and gave it to Finn. "For Octavia." He said and Finn took it. "Most of Tristan's rangers will be at your gate by nightfall, but he'll send riders ahead, scouts. All of you have to be gone before they arrive." He said as Finn looked out. "One of them is coming." He said and turned to Lincoln. "Where are we supposed to go?" he asked the guy. "In my book, there's a map. Chart a course to the eastern sea. There's a clan there, led by a woman called Luna, a friend. Tell her I sent you." He said as he took out his knife and Clarke held his arm.

"Thank you and try not to die." She whispered and he nodded. "Just get Octavia out of there." He said as he stood up and moved towards the reaper near them and slit his throat and waited for the others to notice him and as they did he started running to the left, leading them away. "Let's go." She said and this time, they took off running without Clarke stopping which meant that Finn didn't kill a reaper and she hope that would make it harder for him to lose his mind once they were gone, she though as they kept running without looking back.


	60. End of a new beginning I

The end of a new beginning part 1

Back in camp, everyone was working and the landmines were finished just the way Clarke instructed them to. It needed to follow the same script as last time so when Raven could, she would waste gunpowder so they couldn't make more. In the end, they had the same amount as they did last time and in the same place, Clarke said that doing more could change the outcome of the battle and them being captured is a marker so Raven did what the blonde asked. She just finished when she came to stand talk to Murphy who was in their tent. "And?" he asked and she nodded. "All done as she instructed." She said sitting down and he nodded.

"At this time of the day, before, I would be near to be ruining your spine." He said to her and she nodded. "Not our friendship's finest moment, I admit but you were a different person then and so was I and we both screwed things up as did Bellamy and Clarke. What happened wasn't only your fault, it was all of ours." She said to him and he nodded still looking guilty, sitting down to face her and crossing his arms, looking at her and smirking. "How does it feel to be okay though?" he asked and she smiled looking down and touching her leg.

"It feels damn great if you ask me." she said as he smiled. "Thing is with my leg messed up, it helped me have more confidence in me and it changed me, not all times for the better but it changed me and I am just happy I get to remember those changes without having to go through the pain I did before." She said and he smiled. "Yeah, me too. I was okay not having to go through torture with the grounders again." He said and she looked at him. "About that, Dax? Was that you?" she asked him.

"Yep, Clarke helped cover for me and he had been sleeping when I got to him but you should have seen him before when Bellamy got sick. The way he was looking at Bell boy was the same I looked at him when I wanted to kill him so whatever bad feeling I could have had for him was gone. I just knew and I guess Clarke did too that if he stayed alive what happened with me would have happened again only that would be Dax trying to kill Bellamy, not me. So it was best to finish things like these. He was a selfish douchebag and no one cared about him anyway." He said and she nodded understanding his reasons.

"They should be getting back by now, right?" she asked him and just before Murphy moved to say anything to her. "We got movement outside the south wall." Miller said coming near them through the radio and they looked at each other smiling as Murphy got his rifle and got out with Raven following him outside as everyone moved with their rifles towards the gates and they saw Bellamy, Octavia and Jasper walking out of the drop ship. "Wait! Hold your fire. It's Clarke and Finn, open the gates." Nathan said as two boys moved to open it as the two in question came running inside.

Clarke barely got inside before Charlotte came running to her and hugged her and she hugged her back. "I was so scared when I heard you were missing." The little girl said and Clarke kissed her head. "I'm fine." She said and even though Charlotte didn't let her go, Wells came to hug her as well and Jasper hugged her too. "Thank God. Where have you been? Where's Monty?" He asked as he pulled back. "Monty is gone?" she asked not surprised but pretending to be, she knew Raven was not going to stop it. "Clarke, we need to leave now. All of us do." Finn said before he turned to everyone.

"There is an army of grounders unlike anything we've ever seen coming for you right now. We need to pack what we can and run." Finn said. "Like hell we do. We knew this was coming." Bellamy said as Clarke watched with Charlotte still hugging her. "Bell, we are not prepared." Octavia said to him. "And they are not here yet. We still have time to get ready. Besides, where will we go? Where will be safer than behind these walls?" Bellamy said to the crowd. "There's an ocean to the east. The people there will help us." Finn said. "You talked to Lincoln?" Octavia asked him and he nodded. "You expect us to trust the grounder?" Bellamy asked and Clarke pulled back from Charlotte and stepped in.

"Yes, we can trust him because that grounder just risked his life to make sure we made it here in time to warn everyone." She said but before Bellamy could start his speech about grounders with guns, she stepped in. "But relax. We are not leaving camp." She said and Finn looked at her. "Clarke, you can't be serious." He said to her looking shocked and she nodded firmly. "I am. Lincoln said there were scouts already around here. Think Finn, what are they going to do if we leave?" she asked him. "They will attack to draw us back in." Raven answered and Clarke nodded at her, exactly.

"Lincoln had good intentions but he was naïve thinking that running would do us any good. They would never let us get anywhere near the ocean so we are going to stay here and fight." She said looking at everyone. "Ever since we got here, we have been fighting them and living in fear of what they were going to do and when we found those weapons we thought we would have a chance and we do. Truthfully, a lot of us are going to die here tonight, maybe even all of us but we will die knowing we fought for us and for our people until our last breath and if you ask me, it doesn't sound so bad." She spoke to them and they cheered.

"Running was an option but not a good one. We could be very well slaughtered the moment we set food outside of this place, without standing a chance to fight back, but at least in here we have the advantage of owning the battlefield. The grounders think that we are easy preys but in this place, in this ground, we are going to show them that we are not." Cheer. "We will show them that we have honor, strength, determination and no matter what happens tonight, I want you to know that it was my pleasure to fight along every single one of you. My very own army." She said loudly and everyone cheered loudly for her.

"So start preparing because tonight, we go to war." She said and they cheered already moving away. "Alright, this is what we've been preparing for. Kill them before they kill us. Gunners, to your posts. Use the tunnels to get in and out. From now on, the gate stays closed." Bellamy said and everyone started moving away as he went after Octavia. "Charlotte." Clarke called the little girl to her side again. "Bellamy, Wells, Raven, Murphy and Finn, if you want to come, meeting on the drop ship. Let's go." She said to them as she held Charlotte's hands and went to the dropship and got inside to the level where they had a map of the camp.

"Charlotte, stay in the corner and don't move, okay? I don't want you out of my sight." Clarke said and the little girl nodded and went to sit down as Clarke told her to. The others including Finn, joined her around the table. "Okay, reports on what we have?" she asked them. "We've got 25 rifles with 20 rounds, give or take. Roughly, five hundred rounds of ammo. While you two were gone, we made some improvements." Bellamy said. "Thanks to me, you're welcome by the way, the gully is mined as well as we could, some of the gun powder couldn't be used, thanks to the rain." Raven said and Clarke and Murphy nodded.

"Still, it's the main route in. If the grounders use it, we'll know. She also built grenades." Bellamy said. "Not many, again, thanks rain." She said and Murphy smirked. "We'll make them count. If the grounders get through the front gate, guns and grenades should force them back." Bellamy said. "And then what?" Finn asked and Bellamy stayed quiet. "This is why we should have run. Clarke, there's still time." He said to her and she shook her head.

"Finn, I don't want this war to happen either, neither of us do but Clarke is right. The moment we stepped foot outside, they would have attacked us so we could get back. What do you think they prefer? To attack with us scattered around the woods or trap us in here where they don't think we can escape? It's basic strategic. The time we would waste getting ready to leave is better spent getting ready to fight. As much as I would like to agree, I don't think they left us with much of a choice." Wells said and Clarke smiled at him.

"Which is why on the way here, I got been thinking about something." She said and they looked at her waiting for an explanation. "When we were falling, the engines started up pretty late, maybe there is still rocket fuel down there, right Ray?" Clarke said and the mechanic nodded. "Possibly. It would have to be hydrazine though, just like the one from the Exodus ship. Theoretically, if the engines were delayed, that means they didn't use all the fuel they had so there could be some downstairs." She said and Clarke nodded.

"If there is, I want to you to charge then and use it blast off." She said to the girl and Raven nodded already prepared for that. "Draw them in, fire the rockets, ring of fire." She said and Clarke nodded. "Barbecued grounders. I like it." Bellamy said smiling feeling hopeful. "But will it work?" Finn asked Raven. "The wiring is a mess down there and I will probably have to make different connections to get it done but if you can buy me enough time, yeah it will work. I can do it." She said explaining and they nodded.

"Okay then. All foxholes, listen up. Keep your eyes and ears open. Inflict casualties, as many as possible. We need to hold them off long enough for Raven to finish her job. That is the plan." Bellamy said via radio. "Okay, everyone. Let's get to work. Charlotte, you're with me and Raven, come on." Clarke called out to the girl as they all got down and Raven went down to check on the fuels. "Murphy, stay outside of the dropship and make sure we get enough time. Shoot anyone that is not one of us except..." She said leaving Anya's name unsaid but he nodded understanding the message. "Bellamy, help the gunners." She said and he nodded as well and the two boys left them.

"Charlotte, stay here." Clarke said and the girl sat down. "Finn, I need you to do something for me." She said to him and he nodded. "I need you to go find Lincoln. If he is alive, he is in his cave and when you get there, I need to get his help and draw the reapers back here." Clarke said and he looked shocked. "Clarke, those things…" he said. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend beside they will be a good distraction and I know you can make it back in time, if you go now. Please." She said and he nodded. "Okay, but in case, I don't." he said and kissed her.

She pulled back immediately and looked at him. "Finn, I…" she said but he was already moving away and out of the drop ship before she could say anything to reproach his action and she sighed. "You will have a lot of explaining to do, girl." Raven said with a smirk and Clarke nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. "I know but it was almost like a goodbye kiss, I should have felt bad thinking about pushing him away, shouldn't I? He could die. So why am I angry he keeps doing this shit?" Clarke said before Raven laughed.

"I just wonder if certain people get goodbye kisses when they have to go to war too? I am sure there would be a line of volunteers, myself included." Raven said and Clarke scowled at her. "There better not be and I will kill you just for suggesting that. But you are right, I shouldn't have let him kiss me at all but next time we see each other, I will tell him that if he ever does something like that again, I will break a few teeth." Clarke said and Raven went back down to start working while also making sure to keep it on schedule with Clarke's plan and Clarke went to sit down with Charlotte to wait as they hugged each other and waited.

Meanwhile back on the Ark, the leaders of the stations were called into the control room where the council was waiting. After his talk with Clarke, Kane made sure to keep things on track with their plan and this time with Jake, he knew that nothing would go wrong and they would be launching in time. Callie was by his side as Jake and Jaha explained the plan and the dangers of the plan. "Do you think this is going to work?" she asked and he looked at her and nodded. "Yes, it will. We will be on the ground." he said and smiled at her.

"Do you think it will be just like we dreamt it?" She asked him leaning her back against his chest as his arms wrapped around her from behind. "Well I think that some things will be very different from what we imagined but overall, I think we will find it beautiful." He said and she titled her head to look at him. "Different besides the grounders?" She asked and he shrugged. "I guess. I mean we never thought that was possible so I think we might have more surprises along the way." Kane said kissing her cheek.

"I know and I am excited for it even if they are not all good. It's Earth, Mark. We thought we would never have this chance and yet he we are, moments away from being sent to the ground. I can't believe it." She said to him in a mix of shock and surprise and excitement and he nodded at her. "I know, sometimes I can't believe it too." He said to her as she turned to look at him. "I am glad we are doing this together." She said and he smiled happily at her. "Always, darling." He said and moved forward to kiss her, not for long before they pulled back and focused on Jaha again.

"The stations have been prepared to house everyone so I urge you to lead everyone to get safely tucked in so we can launch and let us hope we can survive this." Jaha said and they nodded as they started moving away and Kane walked closer to him Callie with him. "We should be getting in the stations too, sir." He said and Jaha nodded. "And you just got the words out of my mouth, Marcus. Let's go, everyone." He said and peacefully everyone walked to their places in the stations.

It took them about two hours to settle everyone in along with their provisions and personal items. The set up was much like last time so Marcus was sitting down and had Callie and his mom by his side, he was holding them both to himself. Jake and Abby were with each other and Sinclair with his wife was across from them, they were all in the same station while Jaha was in another one and once he got confirmation that everyone was on board, Jake spoke on the comms.

"Chancellor Jaha. All stations are prepared to launch." Jake said as everyone listened. "In peace, may you live this shore. In love, may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again." Jaha said through the speaker and everyone repeated the last part. "Jake." He called for the engineer, "Yes, my friend?" Jake said, "Take us home." Jaha said. "You can say that again." Jake said smiling. "Initiate go-sci separation. In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Separate." He clicked the button and the explosions happened. "We have launched." Jake said as he held Abby and everyone held onto each other as they made their way back home.


	61. End of a new beginning II

The end of a new beginning part 2

Meanwhile back in camp, the night already fell on them as Raven continued working on the rockets. Clarke waited patiently as she let her thoughts go to the Ark. If Kane did his part, the Ark would be coming down today. From what she had talked to him, last time there was only 5% of the Ark they judged would survive but by avoiding the Exodus ship disaster and with her Dad working on it, they had the number go up to 17%. It was still a low number but much higher than before. I guess this was one of the reason Becca said that her father's presence was important for the changes. She was proud of him and Kane both.

She was brought back to the moment by Charlotte's voice asking her a question. "Clarke, do you think we can make it?" Charlotte asked the older girl and Clarke looked at her and gave her a small smile. "Of course, I think we can make it." She said and the little girl sighed. "I thought the ground would be different, more beautiful." She said and Clarke hugged her tighter. "But it is, Charlie. We may have not gotten to see it the beauty yet but it is beautiful, so much more beautiful than this." She said as she rocked them from side to side.

"There are animals. Horses that are so beautiful and some who are not that much since they have two heads. There are rivers with a water so clean that you can see the bottom of it. There's an ocean so wide that you can never see the end of it. There are forests that glow in the dark. Monkeys. Deers." She said and the girl smiled as she pulled her necklace that held the deer Clarke gave her. "Like this one?" she asked her and Clarke smiled. "Like that one and gorgeous deers as well." She said and the girl smiled. "Will you show that to me one day, Clarke? All of those things?" she asked her and Clarke smiled.

"Of course, I will. You and I, Raven, Murphy, Wells, Jessica and my parents. We will all get to see that and enjoy it. I can already see it. Close your eyes, Charlie." She said to the girl who did it. "Now, imagine a big river with waterfall and all. You see it?" she asked and the girl nodded smiling. "Now, we are all there. Can you see Murphy jumping on the water, splashing it in all of us?" she asked and the girl chuckled. "And Raven would get angry and say he is a jackass and he would dare her to do better and she would jump in too." Charlotte said and Clarke smiled.

"And what else?" she asked. "Wells and Jessica would join them but they would do it gently, not like the other two did." The girl said. "And you and me?" Clarke asked. "You would be laughing at all of them and Murphy would have gotten out and he would pick you up and thrown you into the water." She said and Clarke chuckled. "That is such a Murphy thing to do." She said and Charlotte smiled. "And then, he would hold my hand and we would both jump in and start playing in the water with everyone else." She said and opened her eyes and looked at Clarke. "Beautiful, wasn't it?" Clarke asked and Charlotte nodded smiling.

They continued talking when suddenly they started hearing the war drums. Clarke looked at the hole and stood up calling out to Murphy who came inside in an instant. "They're here." He said and she nodded looking at Charlotte before turning back to him. "I know, I heard. Raven, have you finished?" she called out and the girl came up and out of the place. "Yeah, I already reconstructed the wires that were damaged and made the connection. You close the door and press this button and kaboom." She said giving the button for Clarke and the blonde nodded.

"Bellamy? Wells? Where are they?" she asked Murphy. "Wells is inside here and Bellamy went to the north foxhole as soon as he heard the drums." He said and she nodded. "Then, it's time." She said and the two of them looked at her. "Clarke, are you sure about this?" Raven asked and she nodded. "You know it has to be this way. It has to." She said and the brunette nodded moving to hug her. "Get back to us soon." She whispered in her ear and Clarke smiled. "Keep them out of trouble." She said and the brunette nodded pulling back and she hugged Murphy next.

"I don't like this just so you know." He said and she nodded smiling. "I know but I will see you guys soon and someone needs to be there for the Ark. Just keep them safe, dumbass. For me." she said and he nodded. "I will, blondie." He said and she pulled back with tears on her eyes. "Charlotte, come here." She called to the girl who stood up and went to her. "I need you to listen to me." Clarke said. "I need you to go with Raven and Murphy." Clarke said and the girl looked confused. "Go where?" she asked.

"Out of here." Clarke said and when she understood what Clarke meant, she started shaking her head and getting emotional. "No, I'm not leaving you." Charlotte said and Clarke held her face on her hands. "Charlie, listen to me. My parents, our parents are coming down and they can't lose both of us. I can't lose you and this will be a blood bath. I promise I will go back to you but I need you to go. I need you to live." Clarke said while tears fell down on her face too. "I don't want to lose you." Charlotte said as she hugged Clarke and she hugged her back.

"You won't. I promise, just have faith in me, okay? I will come back but you guys need to go. Now." She said and pulled back and the girl nodded. "Take care of Mom and Dad for me, little sis?" she said and the girl nodded. "I will. I love you, Clarke." She said and Clarke smiled. "I love you too. Now, go. Use the east passage, they won't be coming from there." She said as Raven pulled Charlotte away and Murphy looked at her. "Give them hell, Wanheda." He said and she nodded. "That's my specialty." She said joking and he walked out as she followed just in time to see them leaving as everyone else was worried about the drums and the front gate.

She took a deep breath and grabbed a rifle and waited by the door as the gunshots went on and on, then she grabbed the radio. "Stop shooting. If they are not moving forward." She said and soon enough, the mines were going off and the attack started and they moved towards the gate. "There are too many. Everybody, get to the drop ship now." Miller said but she stopped. "No, gunners stay on your posts and hold them off as much as you can. Everyone else get inside. Fast." She said and they obeyed. Everyone was moving and shooting when they heard a noise and they all looked up and Clarke smiled. "Is that from the Ark?" Fox asked and Clarke looked at her. "That is the Ark." She said. "Everyone, get inside." She said and they went in as she saw the Ark, splitting up and hoped that her parents and Kane were okay.

Inside the station, everyone was holding on, reentry was after all the hard part. Kane knew that many stations would not survive but there was no better way or other way to do this. There was heavy shaking and everyone looked scared but he knew that they would make it. He was more worried about what was going down with the kids. He knew that they would probably be battling the grounders without help, except from Clarke, Raven and Murphy and even though he knew they would survive, he was still worried then he looked at Abby and Jake and saw her mouthing. "We're coming, Clarke." And he nodded, yes, they were.

With Clarke, she looked to the side and thought about her friends and Charlotte. She really came to love the girl as a little sister and like she had to him she knew this was what Bellamy felt when Octavia was involved or in danger, through Charlotte, she got to understand him that much better. She really hoped that they would be fine, both Raven and Murphy knew what to do and just like she asked them to trust her, she needs to do the same for them and trust them as well. "Wells. Get back here." Clarke called out to the boy who ran to her. "Clarke, they're too many." He said to her panting and she nodded.

"I know, get inside and stay there. This will be over soon." She said and hugged him as he ran inside. And that was when she heard the sounds or screams that she knew were from the reapers so she knew that Finn had done what she asked of him which was a relief and then she heard what sounded like they were fighting the grounders and from the side, she saw a flashlight coming in and Finn came through the passage followed by Jasper and a few more. "Go inside." She said to them as she moved and hugged Finn quickly. "You did it." She said and pulled back and he nodded.

"You were right. Lincoln was alive and I got his help to bring the reapers." He said to her and she nodded. "Good." She said to him. "Raven? Did she finish it?" he asked her and she took a deep breath. "Yes. It is done." She said and he gave her a small smile. "Where is she?" he asked and she shook her head. "She is not here. I sent her away with Murphy and Charlotte." She said and he looked shocked. "Why?" he asked her. "The Ark came down. If we don't survive or it doesn't work, at least they will be safe." She said to him and he nodded.

"Now, get inside." She said and ushered him in. "Clarke, the kiss…" he started but she shook her head. "Now, it's not the time for this Finn. Let's get inside." She said and pushed him in and followed and could see everyone hurled up and looking completely terrified and after a few minutes, Nathan came running inside. "Clarke, they're taking out the gate. I'm closing that door." He said as she shook her head. "No, we still have people out there, Bellamy is out there. We wait a little longer." She said to him and walked outside to the same place as before as they started using the grenades on the grounders who walked inside.

"Alright, everybody, get inside. Now." She yelled as Finn came out and stood by her side and pulled her down behind a barricade as arrows started flying around and they watched as Tristan and his rangers started killing their friends who couldn't escape. Wells came to join them. "What are you doing here? Get back inside." She said to him and he shook his head. "I'm not leaving you." He said to her and she shook her head and was about to say something else when Finn pointed to the side. "There he is." He called out and the other two looked at Bellamy coming out of the tunnel.

"He's never going to make it back. Bellamy, run!" she yelled as she saw him grab a rifle that was in front of him and she knew what would happen next but she watched anyway. He moved towards Tristan and tried to shoot the guy but there were no bullets on the rifle so they just started fighting and Tristan was beating him up. "He is killing him." She said panting and then Wells was moving in trying to fight the grounder. "Wells, no!" she screamed as she saw Tristan punch him in the face and then as expected, Finn grabbed a rifle and shot the guy before running and tackling him to the ground as both him and wells tried to subdue him. "Finn!" she called out. Idiots, the lot of them.

"Clarke, you can't save everybody, let's go." Nathan said from her side as she looked out to see her friends being slaughtered but there was nothing she could do so she stood up and followed the boy inside but she stopped and looked at her friends and looked at Wells and Finn and they both nodded at her before they started fighting with more grounders and she just went inside and when Nathan got in, she pulled the level and the doors started closing and then Anya was getting inside and pulling out her swords as the others pointed their rifles at her and the door finally closed.

The grounders outside started banging on the ship and Clarke looked at Anya. "You can't win, Anya. Drop the swords, please. No one is going to hurt you." She said but the woman yelled out and was moving when Nathan knocked her out and everyone moved to hit her but Clarke stopped. "No, no one touches her or I swear to God, I will beat you up myself. Nathan, just help me tie her up." She ordered and Nathan grabbed Anya's hands and tied them. And after making sure, no one would hurt the woman, Clarke walked back to where the control was and looked at everyone before she pushed the button and the drop ship started shaking and she knew what was happening outside and she waited.

Meanwhile with the stations, once they landed, Abby quickly moved to check on everyone while Jake made contact with Jaha. "It is good to hear your voice, my friend." Jaha said and you could hear the smile on his face and Jake smiled sighing in relief. "Yours too. We made it, Thelonious." He said and the Chancellor chuckled. "Any word from other stations?" Jaha asked and Jake sighed. "No, only you so far," He said sadly, "Any signs of them?" Thelonious asked. "We're still inside. We're going out now. What about you?" Jake asked the man. "The same." Jaha said. And Jake looked at Abby and at Kane.

"Then, let's see what all the hype of Earth is all about." He said smiling at them and they moved towards the exit and Abby and Callie were the first ones up, Jake and Kane right behind them as they came to step on the station and felt the sun in their face. "Do you see this, Jake?" Jaha said with awe in his voice. Jake hugged Abby and Kane hugged Callie as they all smiled. "It's everything we dreamed it would be." Abby said and they looked and Kane called their attention. "Guys, look. Chancellor, sir. There is smoke in the distance." Kane said. "Go and check it out. Find the rest of our people and we will do the same. Find our children. Let's keep contact." He said and they nodded.

Back in camp, Clarke finally opened the door and they came out to see the destruction. Clarke looked at the skeleton as she stepped down and looked around. No sign of anyone. She knew they were alive and that was the only thing that helped in this moment. Everyone followed her outside as well as Anya did as well and Clarke waited and it didn't take long before the gas bombs were thrown and Clarke heard Anya whisper Mountain Men and she started feeling dizzy as did everyone and soon enough, they all fell to the ground but just before she passed out, she stared at one of them before everything went black.

Next time she came to herself was when she opened her eyes and was met with white walls all around her, lights on the ceiling and the soft sound of music. She sat up on the bed and looked at the damn painting and sighed before she ripped off the needle and stood up going straight to the door looking outside seeing Monty on the other side and he called for her and she put her hands on the glass and she saw the sign that said Mount Weather Quarantine Ward and looked back at the boy. Here they go again.


	62. Aftermath

Day 5 - Aftermath

Clarke sat down on the ground by the door for a few while thinking about what to do next and she had an idea. She decided to take a different approach to things this time around so when she stood up and looked at the window and saw Maya on the other room that Monty had been in a while ago, she didn't brake anything, no camera, no window. She simply stood there watching her. According to what Maya said the last time they were in this situation and Clarke had a piece of glass near her throat, she was next to be released from Quarantine so all she did was turn around and sit back on the bed and waited and that gave her more time to think.

As much as she would like to be able to get all of her friends out of this place, she knew she couldn't do it, especially not by herself or even right now. Not only because of the number of them that are in here and how difficult it would have been to get them all to escape the way she did and would probably have to do so again but because when Bellamy was sent back in here to infiltrate the Mountain, he is going to need their help to disable the acid fog and their defenses as well as resist the Mountain so there's that.

But most of all, she needed to guarantee that she got to Anya in the harvest chamber so she had roughly 2 to 3 days to gather as much information on this place as she can so that the two of them get the hell out of here then as she thought about it, it would take a day before she got back to camp and then two days or something before Lexa comes to their door with her army and another half day before Clarke would be summoned to speak with her girlfriend so she needed to be sure to time everything perfectly so nothing would go wrong.

She hoped that this time Anya would be able to get to Lexa to talk to her. Clarke regretted not being able to save Anya, she should have known better than to just appear in the middle of the night covered in mud and expect her people not to think it was a grounder attack. She felt extremely sorry later on when she discovered how much Lexa cared about Anya even if she didn't say the words out loud, it was clear to see and Clarke would do whatever she could to spare the woman she loves the pain of losing someone so dear to her.

It took a few hours before her door was opened and someone in the suit came in and took her away and to a room where there were clothes laid out for her and the person spoke. "You can change into these clothes, then I will proceed to take you to level 5". The person said before exiting the room. She stripped down from the white clothes she had and put on the new. A light green shirt, dark grey pants, sneakers and a light grey jacket. She quickly got dressed and knocked on the door and it opened and she was ushered outside where there were two guards waiting for her in the elevator and level 5 was pressed and she waited.

Meanwhile in the woods, Bellamy ran and ran with a spear in his hands while looking back to check that no grounder was following him until he came across Monroe and another boy and he almost threw a spear at them before he ushered them to get down. "You were followed?" Monroe asked him but he shushed her. "Have you seen Finn and Wells?" he asked them. "They are alive?" the boy asked and he nodded. "They were but we got separated. We knew the fire was coming so we ran but one of them followed. How'd you guys get out?" he asked them suspiciously.

"We saw the Ark come down and we thought we could get help. Piece came this way, Monroe thinks is Mecha but I,…" the boy was saying lies when they heard horse sounds and voices. "Follow me. Stay low and quiet." Bellamy said to them as they started following the sound through the woods until they got view of three boys being pulled by ropes and a grounder on a horse pulling them. They could make out Finn and Wells but not the third one who fell on the ground. "On your feet." Tristan called out over his should as the boys helped the other one up.

"Come on, man. You have to get up, come on. We're almost there." Wells said out of breath as well, they had been walking for hours without water or anything, they were dehydrated and tired of the fighting and escaping and the grounder was not wasting time waiting for them to rest. Wells crouched down to the guy and tried to lift him up by the arm but he didn't have the strength to get the guy back up. "Finn, give me a hand. Come on." Wells said to the boy who held the guy's other arm and they almost had him up and walking when he fell forward again

"He can't keep up." Finn called out and the grounder got down from his horse and pulled the boy away and towards him and without mercy, slit his throat as the others watched. "That is one. I lost 300 hundred." Tristan said to them as he moved closer with his sword and the boys moved back falling down as he came closer and offer a canteen of water to them. "Drink. You're lucky. I need you alive to talk to the Commander." He said to them as they shared the water. "Get up." Tristan said and went back to his horse and continued pulling them along as the others followed from behind the trees.

Back in the Mountain, Clarke got to level 5, which made a shiver ran down her spine given what it looked like the last time she was here. All the bodies lying around with blisters in their skin. Children, women, men, elders, everyone was dead, all because she pulled a lever. It took her a long time and Lexa's help but she knew now that although what she did was horrible, it wasn't her fault. She gave Cage a choice for both of them and he chose the destruction of his people, she wasn't the one who pulled the lever, Cage did.

She looked around searching and when she saw her friends being instructed about something, she didn't care who was looking at her and where they were when Monty noticed her and came to hug her and all she cared about was hugging him back just as tightly. "I was afraid something bad happened to you." She said to him and he shook his head pulling back as Jasper hugged her too. Jessica hugged her as well as the others and she pulled back. "Finn, Bellamy and Wells?" she asked them but Jessica just shook her head sadly with tears in her eyes and she sighed.

"We can't lose hope, they're smart, idiots but smart. They must have gotten out before the fire and must still be alive out there probably with the survivors from the Ark. We need to trust that." She said to the group who nodded smiling at her as a girl came towards them. "Welcome, Clarke. If you have any questions, I'm Keenan." She said passing to Clarke the book containing the maps of the Mountain and Clarke looked at it before she closed it. "Are you sure you guys are okay?" Clarke said and they nodded. "Yeah." And so did she, clutching the book that she would study for the next 3 days before she left herself being drawn into conversation.

Back in the woods, Bellamy and the two teens that were with him got to a stop behind some trees and they watched their friends and the older guy turned to them. "I know you're scared but we are warriors. We can do this." He said to them. "How?" the boy asked scared. "We attack as a team. Once he goes for me, Monroe goes for Finn and Wells. Once they're free, it's 5 on one. We take him out them." He instructed. "What do I do?" the boy asked and he sighed. "Try not to die." Bellamy answered him as they looked out. "Ready? One, two, three." Bellamy said and ran with the spear on his hands.

"Hey." He called out and got Tristan's attention but when he looked behind him, he was alone. "Bellamy, get out of here." Finn called out just as the grounder started his horse towards him pulling the two boys to the ground. Bellamy threw the spear but Tristan dodged and hit him in the face, throwing him down on his back. Then, he got down from the horse as the boys tried to catch their breath from the impact they had when they fell to the ground and Tristan moved towards Bellamy hitting him repeatedly until he was practically unconscious and his face was covered in blood.

Also somewhere in the woods, Murphy, Raven and Charlotte were sitting down by the trees. After leaving camp, they didn't walk very far, just enough to get away from the battle and safe from the grounders as well as out of the Mountain Men's radar but they saw the smoke and guessed that the rockets had worked just as they knew it would. Raven and Murphy knew that by the time that it was, their friends have already been captured by the Mountain Men. And they also knew they needed to find the rest of the Ark to help them so they kept walking but Charlotte got tired so they stopped for a while.

"Shouldn't we be going back for them?" she asked them as she clutched the watch that Clarke gave it to her and the two of them looked at each other and then at the girl. "We need to find the survivors of the Ark, braids. Just like blondie asked us to do." Murphy said gently. "Yeah, Charlotte. Once we found them, we can go back to check on our friends." Raven said trying to cheer the girl up. "Do you think they made it? That she made it?" the girl asked in such a small voice that tore at their hearts. "Of course, they did. Especially Clarke." Raven asked, just as they started hearing some noises.

"Get down and stay quiet." Murphy whispered to them pulling them to stand down as he and Raven raised their rifles and looked around until the boy saw Kane's face coming right ahead of them and he sighed. "It's Kane." He said and looked at the girls. "It's our people. Come on." He said and they stood up. "Old man." He called out as he saw the guards raise their weapons just before he come out of the woods. "How much I missed this hospitality." Murphy said as he made an assessment and there was, Clarke's parents and a few others but he notice Kane's smirk before Charlotte come out. "Abby! Jake!" she said and ran to them as they opened their arms and hugged the little girl and Raven joined Murphy as Kane came to them and hugged them. "How good it is to see you." Kane said to them and they nodded.

"Clarke?" he whispered. "Mountain." Raven whispered back and he nodded. "Hey, the two of you, come here." Jake said called them out and they moved towards him and Abby and into a family hug. "You guys okay?" Abby asked them and they nodded until Jake noticed his watch was on Charlotte's wrist. "Clarke?" he asked worriedly and looked at them. "Is Clarke okay? Did something happen to her?" Abby asked even more worried and they sighed. "We don't know." Murphy said to them. "What do you mean you don't know?" Abby asked him again.

"There was a grounder attack last night at our camp, about 300 hundred of them. Clarke sent us out before it happened so we could protect Charlotte and find you guys to get help if we needed. We don't know what happened to them." Raven explained and Jake hugged Abby. "Okay, then take us there." Kane said to them and they nodded as everyone started on their way. "Everyone made it down?" Raven asked them and Kane shook his head as they took on a path that would lead them towards the boys as Kane already knew. Jake and Abby were with Charlotte and Murphy with Raven and Kane.

In the Mountain, it was lunch time apparently. Clarke quickly got out of the conversations with her friends, sat down on a corner and started going through the maps, trying to memorize them as best as she could and once she knew it was time for her plan to start, she moved to where Jasper and Monty were playing with their food as Jessica sat down with them. "Hey, Clarke. You have to try this chocolate cake." Monty said motioning to his food. "Thanks guys but I'm not hungry. Now, I need you to pretend we are talking about something good and keep smiling." She said smiling at them and they looked confused.

"Clarke, what is this?" Jasper asked her and she smiled at him. "Smile, Jasper." She said to him and he did as she asked and gave her a small smile. "Now, I need you to listen to me very carefully." She said maintaining the smile on her face and pretended like everything was fine. "I know that you're in love with this place, with their food, with the safety they offer. Am I right? Laugh." She said and they nodded laughing. It was true. "Okay but did you notice that the map they gave us have no exits? Which means that if we want, I don't know, go pick a flower outside, we can't?" she explained calmly.

"I did." Jessica said and Clarke looked at her. "Really?" She asked the girl and Jessica nodded. "Well, when you spend so much time around Raven, Murphy and you, you pick up a few things and as soon as I got the maps I tried to look for a way out so maybe we could go look for our friends, Wells or even to bury them in any case but there was none and I have to say I found that extremely weird." Jessica said and Clarke smiled at her nodding her head. "Of course, because it is weird not being able to leave if we want to." Clarke said and Jessica agreed.

"Clarke, Jess, why would we want to leave? No grounders hunting us, we're not starving." Jasper said to them and Clarkee nodded. "I know but we spent our whole lives crumpled up in the Ark and now that we know there is a whole world out there for us, are we seriously going to stay crumpled up again in this place? I will go claustrophobic in here if I can't go outside and breathe fresh air or feel the rain or the grass." She said to them and the boys looked at each other and nodded, they could understand what she meant. "I'm sure they will let us out if we ask." Monty said to her and Clarke looked at him.

"Try it then. Ask them to go out, tell them that there is something valuable for you in our camp, something from your parents, ask permission to go and get it. See what they say. Smile, they can't know what we are talking about." Clarke said and chuckled pretending as she noticed the president looking at them but specifically at her and they all followed her lead. "Clarke, this place is good and the people are nice and they have chocolate cake." Jasper said to her and she turned and looked at him.

"Jasper, remember all the times you didn't trust me, what happened then?" she asked him. "Bad things." He answered her and she nodded as she noticed the president standing up and looking at her. "This place is too good to be true and we need to find out the truth about who they are and what they want with us before we find ourselves in more danger than with the grounders, now laugh as if I said some amazing joke and Jasper go get me a piece of this chocolate pie. Now." She instructed them and chuckled as the boy followed her lead and laughed as well and soon, the president came to them.

"Hello, Clarke. I believe we haven't formally met yet and I would very much like to introduce myself to our newest addition. I am President Dante Wallace, welcome to Mount Weather."


	63. The plan starts

Day 7 - Start

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I would like to thank you for your hospitality and kindness in my name and in the name of all of my friends." She said politely to him and extended her hand as he shook it and she noticed the stain. "Oil paint." She said to him and he smiled. "You're an artist too, your friends told me." He said to her as she let go of his hand and she nodded. "Yeah, I like to draw. Jasper, could you go get me some chocolate pie now? I would love to try it," she asked the boy and he nodded as he grabbed her plate and went to where Maya was. "We will go check on Harper and Fox." Monty said as he and Jessica stood up to leave. Now, Clarke was alone with the president.

"They listen to you. May I sit down?" He asked her and she nodded. "Of course. They chose me as their leader and also as a trustworthy friend." She said smiling as she looked back at Jasper and noticed him talking to Maya and she smiled. "I suppose you have a lot of questions." Dante said and she looked at him before shaking her head. "Not as many as you think. Just what news do you have on the rest of my people?" she asked gently and he smiled. "We brought everyone we could find and as for the Ark, as you call it, there were multiple crash sites in a hundred square miles. If there are survivors, we will bring them here too. Don't worry." He said and she nodded.

"Why are you inside here and not out there?" she asked him playing innocent. "The ground is not survivable for us. The savages survived the radiation thanks to natural selection. The ones who didn't, died and the ones who did passed on their DNA to the next generation. We never went through that process. You and your people did." He said to her and she nodded. "Solar radiation is higher so we metabolize the radiation on the Earth faster." She said to him and he nodded. "It's impressive." He said to her and she shook her head.

"It's science. When your father and two of your best friends are engineers and mechanic and obsessed with stuff like that to the point that they lose themselves into it, it's only logical that you catch up on a few things along the way. It's nothing that big of a deal. Now, how do you survive here? Hydroponic farm for food, I suppose. It would be like the same system we hard on the Ark. Am I right?" She asked him pretending to be curious but not too much to alert him she could be dangerous and so he nodded.

"Yes. Hydroelectric power from philpott dam. Fresh water from our own underground reservoir." He said to her and she leaned back on her chair. "Impressive." She said and smirked at him. "You're remarkable for a girl of your age." He said looking attentively at her and she shook her head. "Don't be fooled. I am not as good as you think I am." she said with a double meaning behind her words. 'I'm even better.' She didn't let come that part come through, she made it look like she was being humble. "Well, we'll see it in time. I just wanted to say hi and welcome you to Mount Weather." He said to her and she smiled at him. "Thank you." She said as he stood up and left her with her own thoughts.

Last time, she let them know her agenda far too soon and she gave credit to her inexperience, she was too impulsive in trying to get out, that way both Dante and Cage knew what to expect from her and therefore kept a close eye on her but now she knew better than to lay down all of her cards on the table. No, she would keep some up on her sleeve. That way she would have the element of surprise so when the time came for her to attack, they wouldn't know even what hit them. Wanheda, bitches. She smirked.

Back in the woods, once Bellamy regained consciousness, Tristan pulled him up and started tying him to the others and moved towards his horse. "You need to stay up, no matter what." Wells said to the boy. "He will kill you if you don't." Finn said to him and as the grounder was about to get up on the horse, they heard Monroe and the boy scream as they moved forward and Tristan pulled his word but just before they came close to him, a gunshot hit the grounder on the chest and another one went to the head, the boys were on the ground as they saw the grounder fall besides them.

When they looked up, they saw Kane and a few guards coming forward and Murphy and Raven appeared as well as the girl moved towards the boys. "Finn, Wells, Bellamy. Dumb, Dumber and No Brains. What a trio." She said chuckling at them as she cut them loose and hugged all three of them. "Happy to see you all in one piece. Especially you, Junior." Murphy said to them as well as Kane came forward and offered a hand to Bellamy and pulled him up. "It is good to see you, Blake." Kane said to him and the boy nodded. "It is very good to see you too, sir." He said smiling and they hugged.

Kane pulled back and turned to the grounder before motioning for the guards who gave a signal for everyone to come forward and they saw the rest of their people including Charlotte who ran to Wells and jumped on him as he caught her and hugged her tightly as Abby and Jake who moved towards the boys. "Hey, little one." Wells said to her. "It's nice to see you again, Wells." Jake said and the boy nodded putting Charlotte down and shaking his hand. "It is good to see you too, Jake." He said as Abby checked on the boys.

"Your father will be very happy to see you." Jake said to him and the boy was surprised. "My father is here? He made it?" he asked him worriedly and Jake smiled at him. "Yes, last we talked to him, he was taking the people with him to Alpha station." He said and Wells smiled. "We need to get to the drop ship." Finn said to them and started moving. "Stop." Kane said stopping the boys. "Jake, you coming?" Kane asked and the engineer nodded. "You can bet I am. My daughter is there." He said firmly and Kane nodded. "Okay. Sinclair." He called out and moved towards the other engineer.

"We're splitting up. A guard detail comes with me to the drop ship and you take everyone to Alpha Station. We have the coordinates, we will follow you as soon as we get the kids." He said and the engineer nodded. He looked at Callie and his mom and walked up to them. "Do you really have to go?" Callie asked and he nodded. "I do but don't worry. I will be fine. Just be careful as well, you two." He said to her, kissing her as he moved to hug his mom before he turned around and walked back to the small group.

"Since we don't know the place, you kids will lead the way and we will follow. Be quiet and watch out. Let's go." He said and they started moving out towards the dropship. "We are getting closer. You will see Clarke soon" He said to the Griffins who nodded and even though it was not completely lie, it wasn't the truth either. They would see Clarke soon, not now but rather in a few days and with that mind, they just kept on walking through the woods for about an hour before they got closer and walked slowly.

Abby and Jake watched what was around them, the bodies and they just hoped not to find Clarke in the middle of them. The boys stopped and they all kneeled down. "It's too quiet." Bellamy said and he moved, this time without Kane stopping them but instead following them and when they got to the entrance, the view was as disgusting as the three people who remembered imagined it would be like again. "What happened here?" Jake asked them. "War." Murphy said as Bellamy, Finn and Wells moved inside and Abby and Jake looked at each other before following.

"You two, check the perimeter. Eyes on the trees." Kane said to the guards and the rest of the party who consisted of Murphy, Raven, Charlotte and the Griffins followed the boys to the drop ship, only to find it empty as expected. "Where is everyone?" Wells asked them as they looked around. Jake and Abby hugged each other, Clarke was not here, this could not be good, they thought. Finn went up the ladder and the others waited but when he came down and shook his head, they all looked grimly. "It's okay, Jake. Clarke promised she would come back." Charlotte said and he smiled at her.

"I believe you. I know she will." He said hugging his wife and the little girl and Kane took the front. "We need to leave. Get to Alpha Station before dark." He said and moved out with the Griffins and Charlotte following. "No way, this is where they will come back to." Bellamy said looking at them. "I don't think they are coming back." Wells said sadly. "The grounders took them and you know it. We go with Kane now then we get reinforcements, weapons and we go after our friends." Finn said and Raven and Murphy looked at each other.

"Question, how many more of us will be dead by then?" Bellamy asked him. "What can we do for then now, Bellamy? We don't have anything that will help us find them. We're tired, beaten, hungry. I don't like this either but Finn is right. We need to go, get some rest, whatever we need and then we come back and go after them." Wells said to him and the guy nodded as Kane called out for them and everyone came out. "Let's get moving." He said to the group and everyone started on their way passing by the note Abby left for Clarke.

Back in the Mountain, Clarke found a new set of clothes on her bunker as she realized she recognized the outfit. She went to change into it anyway and then when they were all ready, they were moved to level five and escorted to their seats and as the president joined them, everyone stood up and gave their hands and Clarke did as well. "For the past and the future." He said. "We give thanks." Everyone said together. "Good health, good food and good company. And the blessing of new friends." Dante said motioning to them.

"We give thanks." They said and then sat down and Clarke started eating as she did before. The food was really good, that was undeniable, although the food in Polis was a hundred times better but the thing is that knowing what she knew about these people made it hard to swallow it down. To think that just a few levels below where they are and there are hundreds of people in tiny cages waiting to have their blood drained from their bodies and that they just stand here, partying, laughing, not giving the grounders down in the harvest chamber a second thought except to think that they are savages, it's disgusting to her.

But even with that in mind, Clarke knew she could not let those thoughts and feelings show on her face so she acted like she was finding everything amazing and started talking with her friends, always noticing that Dante kept checking on her for which she made sure to put on a show of being grateful to be there and once they were finished, he came to her. "Clarke, can I have a minute?" he asked her and she nodded as she stood up and followed him to a corner of the room. "I'm afraid I have good news and bad news. The good news is waiting by your bed, a gift from me, I think you will be find to your liking." He said to her and she already knew it was the art supplies.

"And the bad news?" she asked him. "Our patrols have swept the area and found no evidence of survivors, either at your camp or from the Ark." He said and she put on a sad face even knowing it was all lies. "How sure are they of that?" she asked him sadly. "They can't be sure but I have ordered them to keep searching anyway." He said to her and she nodded. "I understand and thank you for your efforts. I appreciate it." She said doing her best to sound sincere and he nodded. "Loss, pain, regret. Feelings I understand well. But time eases these feelings, Clarke." He said to her and she nodded.

"I agree. Thank you for giving us the time to grief, out there we only had time to worry about the next fight." She said to him just as Monty called out to her and she looked at Dante. "I'm sorry but I have to go. Thank you once again." She said to him and he smiled at her before she joined Monty, Jessica and Jasper as they walked back to their rooms. "You were right." Monty whispered to her and she turned to him. "About what?" she asked him. "I asked to go out and they said no, that it was for my own protection, I even tried the personal stuff you said and still they didn't let me go." He said to her and she nodded. "That doesn't mean that they are evil." Jasper said to them.

"No but at least it says that they are not who they portray themselves to be and that is bad enough if you ask me." Jessica said and they got to Clarke's bunk bed and sat down in front of her as she ignored Dante's present. "Look, if they are so intent on us staying here is because they have interest in us, in what we can offer them, something I don't think they can have if we leave and that doesn't make them evil, Jas. It makes them dangerous, because it means, they will do anything to keep us in here, lock us up if they have to." She explained to the boys.

"What are we supposed to do then?" he asked her. "Keep enjoying everything and be grateful to them but don't overdo it, that will make them suspicious of us and we don't want that, make it sound sincere." Clarke said to them as they nodded and she grabbed her map book, opened up and gave it to them. "And in the meantime, we find out everything we can about this place. Something tells me that we are going to need it." She said and they nodded as they started studying it and Clarke was glad she was able to bring them to her side this time around. It will maybe make things better for them once she is gone.

Back in the woods, the little group finally came out of the trees and saw Alpha station and the people, just as they remembered. Kane smiled looking at it and so did Raven, she did miss this place. They continued forwards and soon, Jaha appeared from where the people were gathered and looked at Wells and smiled. "Dad." The boy said and started running towards him as the two of them hugged and people applauded and the rest moved inside, Abby hugging Jackson as did Charlotte, Jake talking to Sinclair, Bellamy and Finn were going inside as Kane, Murphy and Raven stayed behind overlooking everything.

"How long before Clarke comes back?" Kane asked Raven. "Three days though she comes at night and this time, make sure to avoid killing Anya. Clarke is going to need her to get Lexa to agree to a meeting besides the woman is friends with the Commander and Clarke doesn't want her dead again." She said to him as she touched the necklace. "Did she give that to you?" Kane asked and she nodded. "She told me to keep it safe for her until she gets back." She said to him and he nodded. "Bellamy, Wells and Finn want to get weapons to go after them. If Abby or Jake helps them, you need to stop it. We don't need Finn massacring those people." Murphy said to him and he nodded.

"Very well, now all we can do is wait for Clarke, get inside and help our people."


	64. Explanation

Day 6 - Explanation

The next day, everyone was working around camp removing whatever junks scattered around during the fall to clear the way so they could walk around as well as others were working on building the electric fence surrounding the camp. Kane was overlooking security as guards were stationed outside keeping a close watch on the woods and he was there when the search team he sent to the depot came back with more weapons for them. He ordered the barrels to be taken to the weaponry as they did just that.

While he was on it, the camp was also named Arkadia, thanks to Kane's suggestion, given that Thelonious was here with them, there was no need for Camp Jaha to be their name so why not the name they would already choose in the future anyway? It certainly made it easier for them not to slip up. Soon enough, a guard came to get him and told him that the Chancellor was calling him inside and Kane already knew why so he nodded gave out a few words to the guards and started to make his way inside the station.

When he got into the room he knew they would, Jaha, Abby and Jake were questioning the kids which was all of them, as soon as he came in and gave Murphy and Raven a nod, the meeting was resumed. "Let's continue, you say there were hundreds of grounders. Two? Three?" Jaha asked. "We weren't counting." Bellamy snapped at him. "There were three, at least that's what the grounder Kane killed said to us." Wells stepped in and answered. "Why do you think they attacked? What provoked the attack?" Kane asked them.

"We were here, that was enough." Bellamy said once again but Raven stepped in. "Just a moment." She said to the adults before turning to Bellamy. "If you are going to stand there, being all angry and uncooperative as well as a douchebag, then the least you can do is stay quiet because these little petty and childish remarks of yours are not going to help anyone. So while don't you sit in a corner sulking and let the adults talk. Once you stop throwing a tantrum like a petulant child, you can maybe join in to help us. Got it?" She said angrily to him and he took a deep breath and nodded.

"Good. Now, to answer your question, a few days prior to the attack, Clarke went to meet with one of their leaders to arrange peace between both of our people." Raven said to the four adults as they looked at her. "Clarke? Why Clarke?" Jake asked her. "The grounder who helped us, Lincoln, he arranged the meeting, said we were supposed to bring our leader and he would bring his." Murphy said to them. "The meetings term was that no one was to bring weapons but Clarke knew that it was probable that they would bring it, so she deliberately didn't bring any to show them we were meeting on good faith." Raven explained.

"Turned out, an armed group followed her, myself included and we kept watch of the meeting. Halfway through it, when Clarke told me herself that she was about to seal the truce with them, one of us saw grounders in the trees and thought they were going to attack and started shooting. That was what provoked the attack." Raven finished explaining. "You have to understand that from what Clarke told us, this is their land and we simply crashed into it and claimed it like it was ours, completely ignoring the people who has been living in these woods for a hundred years, how would that be taken if the roles were reversed?" Murphy said.

"You know what? We are wasting time. The others didn't just vanish into thin air, they were taken by the grounders and we need to go after them." Finn said to them. "How sure are you of that, Finn? Because from what we saw on the drop ship, there were no grounders left there, just their skeletons." Murphy said to him. "And who else would have been?" he asked Murphy and Charlotte raised her hand as they all looked at her. "Charlotte, sweetie, what is it?" Abby asked her. "When John and Raven were asleep, I sneaked back to see what was happening in camp." The little girl said. "Charlotte." Raven chastised her and the girl looked apologetic.

"I know I shouldn't have gone and that it was dangerous, I'm sorry but when I was there I didn't see any grounders." She said turning back to the adults. "What did you see?" Jaha asked her. "I saw a few men in a type of suit, with a breathing mask and rifles, and there was an automobile that they got in and then left the camp. I don't know if they took the others or not but I didn't think it was safe to follow them so I went back to where John and Raven were." Charlotte finished explaining and everyone but three of them looked confused at her story.

"Could it be grounders? Some other kind of grounders, maybe?" Abby asked the kids. "No, they use sword, spear, arrows. No guns. It could not have been them." Murphy said to the adults. "Then it was someone else who took them." Wells said confused since they didn't know any other group that was living near them. "We need to go looking for them." Bellamy said determinate. "Kane." Jaha said to the man. "A search team is preparing to leave, sir but with all due respect, this new information changes things, a little." Kane said to the Chancellor.

"Are you saying we just leave them like this?" Jake said and Kane shook his head. "No, absolutely not. But if we are looking to face a group who is not the grounders, who use weapons like ours, who we have absolutely zero information on, going now in blind could make for a slaughter of the kids and us." He explained to them. "What I am suggesting is that we think the situation better, come up with a viable plan and then proceed. What good will it be for the kids if we die searching for them?" he asked them. "We can go." Finn said. "Out of the questions." Raven said firmly. "Why?" Finn asked.

"Before we left, Clarke gave Murphy and I express orders that if we were to find others from camp, we were to bring them to the rest of our people and no one was to go out and since in her absence, leadership of the 100, or what's left of it, is mine per her request, I say that none of us are going anywhere. End of story. I will put your asses in jail myself if I have to but we are not leaving this camp." Raven said firmly and Murphy nodded backing her up. They needed to stop Finn from being an idiot and this was the way.

"If you want to help Clarke so much, then you should do what she would have wanted you to do and that is to help our people to settle down and adjust to what the ground is like. Teach them to hunt. Do what she would have told you to do if she was here and I guarantee you that when she gets back, because she will, I have no doubts about that, she will tell you that you did the right thing. We can let the guards and Kane take care of the search while we stay here and help the others. Period." Raven said firmly to the boys and to everyone else.

Then, all of a sudden, they heard three gunshots and they ran outside, Kane in front with the others following behind him and he already knew that it was nothing but he played his part anyway. "There, right there." The civilian said. "How many were there? What did they look like?" Kane asked him and the guy shrugged. "I don't know. But I swear I saw something." He said and Kane grabbed his gun and pulled from him. "Who gave this man this weapon?" he asked and Major Byrne stepped forward to face him again

"I did, sir." She said to him and he moved to her. "From now on, only the people I authorize get guns." He said to her and she nodded. "Unauthorized use of firearms will be punishable as felony under the Exodus charter, is that clear?" He called out and everyone nodded. "Teams of 3. Move out. Search the woods. Radio check at 5-minute intervals." He said to them and the guards went out into the woods as he turned back and gave the rifle in his hand to Murphy. "You're authorized." He said to him and the boy nodded. "Everyone, back to work. The fence needs to be finished today." Jaha said to them and people started going back and the kids went back inside.

Meanwhile back in Mount Weather, there was music playing and the others were chatting and playing around and Clarke was in her bed memorizing the drawings of the maps so she could recreate them perfectly once she got out to give them to Bellamy. "That's nice." Jasper said coming to the side of her bunk bed. "Maybe, they will hang it on the walls here one day." He said and she smiled before they saw Miller come in with Maya. "Miller. I'm glad you're okay." She said and he smiled. "Yeah, it only took, what, three surgeries?" he said looking at the girl beside him and Maya smiled.

"I hear you're fitting right in." He said looking back at her and Clarke smiled. "I am and so will you." She said to him encouragingly. "Here, twice a day. Don't forget. You'll be okay in a few days." Maya said to Miller as she gave him his bag and he put on the bed bellow Clarke's and the girl watched, Jasper trying to flirt with Maya, awkwardly which was such a Jasper thing to do but the girl seemed to love it and suddenly there was a siren. "Save a seat for me, ok?" she said and Clarke jumped down form her bed and stopped her.

"Hey, what is going on?" she asked gently. "That signal means the surface patrol is back and someone needs medical attention. I have to go to Quarantine." Maya said to her and she left as Clarke looked at Jasper. "If they found survivors, we need to know now. Coming with me or not?" she asked him and he nodded. "Sure." He said to her and they started running following Maya until they came into Quarantine. "They were attacked. One dead. He's in room two. The other took off his gloves and mask to treat him. He's still in decontamination but he'll need treatment as soon as he's processed through." A guy said wearing a suit when Clarke and Jasper came to their side.

"Who attacked them?" she asked them. "What are they doing here?" the guy who was speaking asked Maya. Clarke looked at the guy behind her, grabbed his card and moved to the door. "Hey! Stop. It's not safe." The guy said as she opened the door. "It is for us. Let's go Jasper." She said to him as he looked at Maya. "Someone needs to keep her out of more trouble." He said and Clarke smiled before he joined her and they went inside and they went running forward through white walls filled with paintings. "Clarke. Slow down." He said to her as she turned right and walked through a door to find a body there.

"They are lying to us, Jas. This is a bullet wound. Grounders don't use guns." She said showing it to him. "Maybe they grabbed it from us." He said to her but she shook her head. "Or maybe our people are out there and they shot him. This is what I was telling you about." She said as people entered. "Get them out of here." Dr. Tsing said as Clarke watched as they brought in Langston with his body full with laceration of radiation exposure and she wished very hard she could kill him right now. They were escorted out shortly after that.

Meanwhile back in camp, the kids were sitting down together. "Raven, we need to leave." Finn said and she shook her head. "No, we don't, Finn. You know John, Wells and I want to find Clarke more than any of you, she is our best friend, our sister but it won't help her or our friends if we get killed besides we're not dealing with grounders here anymore, there is a new player in this game. In fact, we don't know what the hell we're dealing with and Clarke would not want you getting hurt so we are staying here." She said firmly. "Who said you're charge? You ran away." Bellamy snapped at her and she looked at him.

"I didn't run away, Bellamy. Clarke told me to go and I did what she asked of me and I am doing so now as well because Clarke knows that the three idiots here would want to do something stupid and she doesn't want that. And trust me, she is coming back. I know she is. People underestimate her too much and so do you." She said to them and he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Raven. I didn't mean to snap at you." He said to her and she nodded. "I'm on your side, dude. I want to find them too but not like this." Raven said just as they heard a moan.

They all stood up and went to Kane. "What was that?" Finn asked him. "It's coming from the north. You guys stay here. Murphy, make sure the camp stay safe." He said to them and looked at the guards. "You, with me." Kane said and started running to the woods and Finn moved to follow but Murphy stopped him. "We're staying here. If it is one of us, they will bring them back." He said to them and Finn sighed. "They're right. Let's wait." Wells spoke and walked away and the other did too leaving only Raven and Murphy. "Can't Clarke come back sooner? I don't think that we can hold them off for much longer." He said to her and she nodded.

"You know what? I never gave Clarke the credit for putting up with our shit but damn, she has the patience of a saint. I'll go crazy with Finn and Bellamy and their hero complex. I swear to God." She said sighing and he smirked. "But you know Clarke wants Bellamy and I to go out so we can find that girl we found last time and Octavia too." He said to her and she nodded. "I know when the right time comes, you will but let's cross that bridge when we get there. For now, Finn is the priority." She said and he nodded as she left and he kept watch over the camp.

Kane and the other guards followed the moans through the woods and once again, they came into the clearing where the three of the guards were crucified. He sighed seeing this again. "Campbell's alive. Cut him down and bring the other bodies too." He said and they moved to do as he asked and he was hoping that once Clarke was back, everything would fall back in place and they could finally start working with the grounders instead of fighting them and killing each other as well.


	65. Containment

Day 6- Containment

Once they were sent back to their rooms, Clarke didn't go after President Wallace like she did before demanding answers just so he could spill his lies and expect her to believe them blindly as if she was an idiot. She didn't know if he thought she was that naïve to believe his story of arrow wounds or he was simply testing her but she wouldn't do that again. She was almost a fully trained doctor, she knew what she saw, the fact that he would expect her to believe him, especially this time around was laughable.

So instead of doing that, she went and got to where Jasper, Jessica and Monty were sitting down and she joined them sitting down besides Jasper and across from Monty and Jessica. "Hey." She said to them and they nodded. "Hey, Jasper told us what you guys saw in the room. Bullet wounds, was it?" Jessica whispered lowly and Clarke nodded. "But that is not important anymore." She said to them and they looked at each other. "What do you mean?" Monty asked her and she sighed.

"They know Jasper and I saw it and if they are trying to keep up the appearance, they will probably make it so that the wound looks like an arrow one so we will think it was the grounders and not our people who shot the guy." She said to them and Jasper shook his head. "I don't understand. Why would they do that?" he asked her and she looked at him "Because they don't want us to leave, they want us here for whatever reasons they have. We can't trust them. We can only trust ourselves right now." She said to them and the other two nodded.

"I also think that there is something weird about this place. The people here are strange, they look like they are hiding something." Jessica said to her as they looked around and Clarke smiled internally. Monty and Jessica would be crucial to the revolution on the inside, now she only needed to get Jasper on board, since he would be the kids' leader in here and she could start thinking about escaping already. "I just can't believe they are bad people." Jasper said and she noticed him looking at Maya and smiling at her while she read a book and Clarke smiled at him holding his hand.

"Maybe Maya is different Jas, but not the others, not the leaders. If there is something wrong in this place, you can bet they plan to make us a part of it but I'm not sure we won't be the prey and I need your help. We need to save our people. Can I count on all of you?" she asked them. Jessica nodded right away and the boys looked at each other and she could see Jasper's doubt but then he nodded. "Yeah, you can count on us." He said to her and she smiled before she noticed his expressions and turned to see Langston walking around.

"Clarke, is that the guy we saw earlier?" Jasper asked her and she nodded. "It is." She said to him. "The guy with the body full of radiation?" Monty asked them and they nodded. "But how?" Jessica asked and Jasper shook his head. "I have no idea," He said and she knew this was her cue to get ready to escape and she smiled to herself before she turned to them. "I do. Follow me." She said and stood up and the three friends looked at each other before following her to their dorms and she closed the door. "Now, I need you to listen to me very carefully." She said to them and they nodded.

"The idea I have is going to be very risky but it's the best one I have. When we were there, we heard a guy say that someone needed a treatment, right Jasper?" she asked him and the boy nodded. "Yeah, we did." He said agreeing with her and she nodded. "Then if that is right, they must have brought that guy to get it and if so, he must have gotten it in medical. You understand what I am saying?" she asked them and they nodded. "We can only find out what treatment it is if we get to medical ourselves." Jessica said to her and she smiled. "That's exactly what I am going to do." She said to them and they looked shocked.

"Clarke, no. You can't get hurt." Jasper said worried about her and she grabbed one of his hands in hers and squeezed it. Last time, she had lost their friendship, Jasper's more than Monty's but she was intent on not losing them again. They were people she cared about very deeply and to remember what is like to have them care for her like this as well, without all the hate the disappointment and the hurt, well, it was overwhelming for her and tears almost came to her eyes but she pushed them back.

"Look, I will get there and I will see if I can find an exit. If there is, I will use to get out of here, then I will find our people and I will find a way to come back for you guys. I swear. But one of us needs to leave this place and get help and between the four of us, Jaha is more likely to listen to me, isn't he?" she said to them and the friends nodded. They knew she was their best shot. "So I will go and I will be back but in the meantime, I need you to promise, all of you, that you are going to take care of the others in here." She said to them.

"Especially you, Jasper. I will leave you in charge of the 64 of us that are here and I need you to keep them safe for me." She said to him as he looked back at her shocked. "Me?" he asked her and she nodded. "You are very brave, Jasper and we are going to need that if we are to defeat these people and get everyone out of this place. I will try to help as soon as I can but it may be a few days before that can happen, for now, the safety of the 64 are in your hands. Can I count on you to help me?" she asked him and he nodded at her. "Yes, you can." He said determinate not to disappoint her and she hugged him.

"I'll miss you guys but we will see each other again and soon. I promise." She said moving to hug Monty as well. "If you see Wells, tell him I am okay and that I love him and miss him." Jessica said when Clarke hugged her and she smiled. Last time, Jessica had been a quiet girl who didn't speak much but it seemed that being around Wells and them gave her the opportunity to be more confident and bold as well as it seemed like she was really serious about her relationship to Clarke's best friend so she nodded.

"I will." She said and both girls smiled before Monty interrupted. "How exactly are you going to get in medical?" he asked her and Clarke sighed rolling up her sleeve. "Well, that will be the painful part for me." She said as she moved to the bed. "Clarke, are you sure?" Jasper asked her and she nodded before she started cutting her arm on the metal of the bed and started bleeding a lot. "Monty, get help. Jasper, Jessica, help me." She said as the boy ran out calling for help and the other two held her as she started feeling dizzy but soon enough, help came.

With Octavia, she had been poisoned by the arrow she got on her leg during the attack on the dropship and Lincoln didn't have the antidote anymore, so he had no choice but to bring her to his village just as she passed out on him. She remembered seeing another guy who gave her some drink telling her it would help and all she did was drink and then everything was black again. What seemed like hours later, she finally woke up feeling better, she looked at the statue and then at the strange men who was looking back at her over his right shoulder.

"Feeling better?" The man said as she sat up. "Who are you? Where's Lincoln?" she asked him as he looked at her. "I'm Nyko. Lincoln is my friend, that is why I helped you." He said to her as she stood up wobbly still but feeling way better. "You can stand, good. So now, you should run." He said to her and she got closer to him. "Where is Lincoln?" she asked him again as he stopped organizing whatever it was and looked at her. "He is answering for what he's done." He said standing up and he was way taller even than Lincoln she thought. "Because he helped you, our clan is vulnerable. The reapers come and we can't even fight them off." He said to her as he tried to move past her but she stopped him.

"Wait, are you saying they caught him?" she asked him as he nodded and she sighed. He moved away. "They'll kill him. We have to do something, please. You said he is your friend. We have to do something." She said firmly and he looked at her. "I did do something. I saved your life." He said pointing at her. "Now, run." He said once again as he was about to get down, she hit him on the head with a rock twice, just enough to get him weak. "Thank you for saving my life." She said and moved to him and rolled him onto his belly and grabbed a piece of wood and something to tie his hands behind his back. Then she grabbed his sword and pulled him to stand up.

"Now, take me to your clan." She said as she held the sword on his throat and pushed him forward. It didn't take long for them to reach it. Just about 20 minutes and she saw the archers on the elevated ground as she continued moving forward and then stopped. "Ai laik Oktevia kom Skaikru and you have something I want." She yelled out and waited for a few seconds before a dark skin woman came out and spoke to her in their tongue but she didn't understand what she said past her name and her clan so the woman walked down.

"I said what do you want, Octavia of the Sky People?" the woman whose name she understood to be Indra asked her. "Lincoln." She said strongly. "No." was the answer the woman gave her so she kicked Nyko behind the knee forcing him to the ground as the warriors waited a command. "Enough. Nyko is our only healer." Indra said to her. "Good, then you will do as I say." Octavia said pulling his head back and the sword in closer to his throat. "Bring Lincoln to the place I saw him last. He know where that is. Just you and him, no one else. If I see anyone else, I will kill your healer. You have until dark." She said and pulled Nyko up walking backwards until she was away from the place.

Back in camp, Jake and Abby along with Jaha and Kane were talking in the council room about what had happened with one of the teams Kane had sent out to check the woods. "The men were crucified?" Jaha asked him and Kane nodded. "Yes, sir. It looked like a warning, I'm afraid." Kane said and the man nodded. "One we will take seriously." Jaha said as he seemed to be thinking about something. "What about the kids? Clarke? We can't just leave them behind." Jake asked the two men and Kane sighed.

"It wasn't the grounders, Jake. It was something else, someone else that we don't know. We don't know even where to start looking for them." Jaha said to his friend. "So what do you suggest we do then? Nothing? Because if you think that is even an option, you will be very wrong. It's my daughter and her friends we are talking about here." Abby asked them and Kane stepped in and spoke directly to her. "Look, you know that I want to find Clarke as badly as everyone else so let's make a compromise, if you allow me, sir." Kane said looking at the parents and back to Jaha who nodded.

"Tomorrow, we finish the fence around the camp's perimeter, electrify it, and make sure that the camp is safe. The day after tomorrow, at the first mention of the sun rising in the sky, I promise I will personally take a team of guards to search every inch of these woods for the kids, we will move every rock, check every cave, everything. I give you my word of honor that I will do that but let's wait just one more day to fix this place and then we will go. I swear we will find them." He said as sincerely as he could as he looked straight into their eyes.

"One day?" Abby asked and he nodded firmly. "One day, that is all I ask. Just one day. If we live now and the camp is left unprotected, the grounders could attack us and we would come back to a ghost camp filled with bodies and no one wants that so we get security covered here and then the next morning, we're going and you can come with us if you would like." Kane said to them and they looked at each other. "Kane is right, as much as we want to find them, Arkadia is in dire need of our help first. Once that is done, all our attention and efforts will be to find the rest of the kids." Jaha said.

"Very well, one more day, nothing more, nothing less." Abby said to them and Jake nodded agreeing with his wife. "The fence will be ready by the afternoon and the next day, I will go with you to search for my daughter and her friends." He said as Kane nodded. "Of course. Clarke is family and we will find her, I promise both of you. Trust me on this one." He said to them and they nodded agreeing to do that as he sighed relieved he was able to convince them at least now to wait a while longer before going out after Clarke. It would be just the amount of time she will need to get back.

He would keep a close eye on the Griffins to make sure that they wouldn't do anything stupid as Abby did last time when she let the kids go out to search for their friends, armed to top it all. He only hoped that Raven and Murphy would be able to stop the other kids from going as well. One day was all he needed to hold them back so Clarke could come back so all they had to do now was wait and hope that her return would be better than last time, he thought as they continued discussing matters of the camp as the night went on.


	66. Escaping faster

Day 5 – Escape

It was well into dark when Octavia found herself pacing by the statue where Lincoln left her as she waited for the two grounders to arrive. She was getting impatient, they were taking too long to get there and she started fearing that the woman wouldn't bring Lincoln and would kill him instead and find herself a new healer. "Looks like you will have to kill me." Nyko said and chuckled just before they heard noises coming from the bushes and as soon as she saw their silhouettes, she walked back to the tall man and pulled him with her.

Within a few more steps, Indra and Lincoln stopped and she looked him over and there was lot of blood and wounds on his body. "He's hurt." Octavia said. "For what he's done, he should be dead." Indra said to her as Lincoln looked at his former chief and she gave a nod for him to start walking and he did slowly and once she was sure it was safe, Octavia turned to Nyko. "I'm sorry." She whispered and pushed him forward and he started walking and shared a look with Lincoln as they crossed paths and he got closer, smiling at her but just before he could get close, he looked behind her and called out.

"Reapers." He yelled and she turned around and raised her sword just in time to stop an attack as more appeared and a fight started between the four of them but with their hands tied, it wasn't a fair one and soon enough, one of the reapers punched her really hard in the face as she fell to the ground and watched as Indra was pushed down and she could also see though with her vision already turning to a blur that the monsters were taking Lincoln and Nyko away as she weakly called for him and heard him screaming her name, just before everything went black for her.

Meanwhile in the Mountain, once Monty got help and the medical team finally got to her, Clarke was immediately brought to medical section of the Mountain as the doctor patched up her arm all the while Clarke pretended to be unconscious by slowing her breathing and trying to calm down her heartbeats which wasn't hard given all the training she did in the Valley. She felt the woman, Dr. Tsing, the bitch, put a bandage on the cut on her arm and move away and Clarke slowly opened her eyes to see the cruel doctor opening a door and closing it behind her and that was when she knew it was time for to get out of the bed.

This time, she didn't stop to check on the guard who was on the bed, Langston, she had no need to check what they were doing to him, she already knew he was receiving grounders blood so she walked past him and his bed and went straight to air ventilators as she used a chair to get up to their level as she grabbed the grid and using the strength she still had in her while not forcing her arm too much so she wouldn't pull the stiches, she was able to pull it away and she managed to get herself up and crawled inside and through the small tunnel.

She made her way to the other side as quickly as she could and when she got there, she pushed the grid forward and crawled out as she got to the harvest room and it looked exactly like she remembered, only that this time, she didn't stop to see what was going on, she already knew so she quickly went to grab the same metal thing she used before and went straight to Anya's cage and broke the padlock and opened the door and got inside, grabbing it. The woman looked at her in confusion and shock and something of relief.

"I will get us out of here but keep quiet okay?" Clarke whispered to her and the grounder nodded just as the doors opened and Dr. Tsing came inside to check on the bodies, grab another package of their blood and once again, the woman started walking slowly while checking the cages and Clarke held her breath but the other grounders did the same thing they did last time and went to touch the doctor who went back out without discovering them. Once the door was closed, Clarke got out of the cage and pulled Anya with her. "Come on, we gotta go now." She whispered to the weak grounder.

She carried Anya towards the same door of the containment area as last time and pulled it open as she got them to the same small room as before, since it was their only way out, at least the only one Clarke knew for sure that it would work for them. "How did you find me?" Anya asked her once they were inside it and Clarke shook her head. "Now, it's not the time for questions, okay? Ask me that when we are out of here and I will tell you everything I know." Clarke said to her and the grounder nodded.

Once the doors were closed and the sirens started, Clarke let go of the woman and just waited for the drop she knew was coming and soon enough, the ground underneath them vanished as they fell down and slid through until they fell on the charts full of bodies. Clarke didn't waste time looking at these people since she was not shocked by it anymore and swiftly got up on her feet. Since she already knew what to expect, she wasn't surprised, disgusted, yes but not surprised at the amount of bodies or that there were bodies there at all.

"Anya, come on." She grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her up as they got out of the chart, Anya holding onto it for support. Clarke quickly went to the pile of clothes and threw them inside the other chart. "Anya, we're out. We have to go." she said to the woman who shook her head. "I won't leave my people behind." She said to the blonde and Clarke came to her. "Look, my friends are inside too but we can't help them if we get back inside. Now come with me, goddamn it." She said as she looked out and saw the light.

"Someone is coming." The woman said and she shook her head. "Not someone. Reapers. Come on." Clarke pulled the woman with her to the other chart and helped her get inside it and then jumped in it too. "Stay quiet and don't move." Clarke whispered to Anya and watched as the light got brighter, the noises louder and followed the shadows on the wall and waited for the first body to be dropped in and the next and the next and then the chart started moving as one of the reapers was pushing it around.

It took about 10 minutes before it stopped and two of them grabbed one of the bodies and very quickly Clarke pushed the one with the leg on top of her off, slowly stood up and looked ahead as the screams came. She threw the clothes off of the chart and turned to look at Anya who was holding the man's head and Clarke knew what she was going to do. "Yu gonplei ste odon." Anya said and snapped his neck. Clarke nodded and got off and helped her do the same as they grabbed the clothes and ran away from there.

Back on camp, everyone was working and Kane was watching them. Abby and Charlotte were to the side around the tent they made for medical. Jake was with Sinclair talking about the fence, Jaha and Wells were talking as they helped people. He was observing when Raven came to his side. "The boys are with Murphy. No one approached them and they didn't leave." She said to him and he nodded. "I kept a close eye on Abby and Jake all night long and they did nothing as well." He said to her and she nodded taking a deep breath before releasing it.

"Finn is getting impatient though. He is still in love with Clarke, he just haven't gone crazy yet, thanks to what Charlotte saw and said on the meeting that got their minds off of the grounders." She said and he looked at her. "Did you guys have something to do with that?" he asked and she smirked. "Of course, we did. We were both awake when she left so Murphy followed her from a distance to make sure she was safe but we let her see them so she would speak up. Once she returned, she said that she went to relieve herself and I said Murphy had gone to grab some wood and she believed it." She said and he smiled.

"That was a very good idea. It helped sway their minds a lot." He said to her and she nodded. "Yeah, Murphy suggested and I'm glad it worked." She said before continuing, "Kane, Bellamy and Murphy need to go out. There is a girl they need to find but more than that, they need to find Octavia, Clarke's instructions." She said to him and he nodded. "Okay, soon enough a grounder will be brought in and then I will give them the mission." He said to her. "That is the grounder that takes you to you know who right?" she asked him and he nodded. "Yes, it is. Why?" he asked her and she shrugged.

"Just wondering if you are going to go again? To try and make peace?" she asked him and he shook his head. "No, there will be no need for me to go anywhere. The commander is coming here anyway and once Clarke meets and triggers her, we won't need anything else so I will be staying right here where I am actually needed instead of getting imprisoned for days." He said to her and she nodded. "You're right besides I don't think Clarke would like for you to see you know who before she did." Raven said and they both chuckled.

They looked out just in time to see Major Byrne and Jaha coming towards them. "Kane, there is a grounder prisoner being brought in. Secure him inside. He can give us information on who took the kids." Jaha said to him and he nodded. "Of course, sir. Raven, check on John and the others. Make sure they're okay and are doing what you told them to." He said to her who nodded at him as he moved out along with the Major towards the man as he was brought in through the front gate.

"Secure a perimeter around him. No one touches this man or you will get shot." He called out as the guards started pulling the man through the crowd who formed around, screaming and asking for their kids. "With all due respect sir, deal with them." Kane said as he passed by Jaha while pushing people out of the way and had to punch a few but together, they were able to get the man safely inside and secured him to a room as they waited for the Chancellor to come to try and fail to interrogate him.

Back in the Mountain, Clarke and Anya quickly put on the new clothes. "Anya, check your body for a small bump. They could have put a tracker inside of you. If they did that, no matter where we go, they will be able to follow." Clarke said as she finished putting on her boots and saw the woman ripping the device with her teeth again and she sighed grabbing a strip a her medical gown and wrapping around the woman's arm. "What are they doing to us?" Anya asked her. "They are using your blood as medicine for radiation." Clarke said to her as she urged the grounder to keep moving in the direction she knew the waterfall would be but the woman stopped all of a sudden.

"Anya, we need to go." Clarke said urgently. "There is no we. You saved my life because you need me, I know how to get back to your camp, where the traps are hidden. You would never make it alone." Anya said at her and Clarke nodded her head. "You're right about all of that but I also saved your life for the same reason I saved Tris because it's the right thing to do and I don't know about you but I don't want to get back in there, do you?" she asked her and the woman shook her head. "Good, then we stick together and get the hell out of this place. Now." Clarke said as they started running.

Clarke knew the way but still it was taking some time then they heard the reapers following and they started running faster, Clarke was guiding them through the tunnels until they got to the waterfall and they stopped by the end as they looked down. "We have to jump. There is no other way out." Clarke said to her and Anya nodded. "Okay, we do it on three. One, two, three." She counted as they stepped back and took off in a run and jumped just as the reapers caught up with them and Clarke cursed the mountain men once again as she hit the water and lost consciousness again.

Next thing she knows, she is being pulled towards the marge of the river and soon Clarke started coughing the water and taking deep breaths as she turned to her side to look at Anya who was sitting down and she knew what was about to happen and she could fight Anya but she would hold that out for later when the time was right. "Thank you for saving me." Clarke said sincerely and the woman stayed silent so Clarke prepared herself for the hit that was coming her way as she continued speaking.

"I think we should go back to the drop ship first so I can see if my people…" she noticed Anya grabbing the rock and the next thing she knew a hit on the head. She could feel the blood running down, the dizziness as the woman straddled her and grabbed her hands to tie it. "We are not going back to your drop ship. You killed 300 hundred of my warriors. I can't show my face without a prize." Anya said as she pulled them both up and through the woods.


	67. Safe arrival

Day 5 – Arrival

Back in Arkadia, Kane was overseeing the interrogation of the grounder once again as he made a question and the guy didn't answer. Kane knew that this would be useless, to use force as well, Lexa's warriors were well trained to suffer through torture without opening their mouths to say anything, not even to grunt in pain and to be honest, the Sky People were vastly unprepared to fight with them since without their guns to defend themselves, they were not warriors at all. Major Byrne was pacing around the room much like she did before.

"Answer the question." She said to the grounder as Kane watched the same man stay silent which once again wasn't that surprising t him as he remembered that the guy didn't speak to them either. "Answer the question." She said louder and sighed before she pulled out her gun and pointed at the grounder's head. "Those men you killed were my men." She said and all Kane said while looking at her was, "Major, if you don't put that gun back on its holster, you will find yourself tied up with him." He said and she looked at him.

"3 seconds." Kane said as he looked at her, he was not playing games. "Three, two." He said and she pulled back like he said and Kane sighed. "Go get some air. That's an order." He said to her as he looked back at the grounder in front of them and Byrne walked past him and out of the room, just as Abby, Jake and Jaha came in. Kane stood up to greet them. "Anything?" The chancellor asked him and he shook his head. "Nothing, sir. He hasn't spoken a word since being brought in." Kane said standing up to greet them. "Is there anything else we can try? Another way to get him to talk?" Jaha asked him and Kane looked at him suspiciously.

"The only other option would be torture, sir but I don't think it would work either. They seem to be prepared for it." He said as they looked at the man. "What do we do with him?" Abby asked the others. "For now, leave him here and then we think of a solution to that question." Kane said to her. "What about letting him go?" Jake asked him and he was able to see a lot of Clarke in the man, her compassion, her sense of justice but Kane knew they couldn't do that either and so he just shook his head at the engineer.

"He saw the camp, he could go back to his people and give them any information he got while being here. About our defenses, our numbers, our weapons. It would be too risky for us to let him go now. I'm sorry, Jake." Kane explained to the engineer who nodded understanding his logic. "So we keep him here for now. Kane, get someone to watch him 24/7 and get back to work, the security of the camp is your responsibility." Jaha said to them before he turned around and left and so did the others and he did so a well while leaving a guard as watch.

Making their way through the woods, Anya was pulling Clarke who was tied up and still a little dizzy from the hit on the head. "Anya, we've been walking for hours. Where are we going?" Clarke asked her and the woman shushed her. "Quiet." She said as she continued pulling her. "You don't plan to kill me or else, you would have done so already so where are you taking me?" Clarke asked her though she already knew and when Anya said. "You will tell the Commander what the Mountain Men are doing to my people." She almost said yes.

That would mean seeing Lexa earlier than what she planned and any offer to do that was beyond the word tempting, it was almost impossible to resist but Clarke knew, deep down, that she had to get to her people first and warn them about the Mountain Men and she was dying to see her mom and Dad and her friends and make sure everything was okay before she got to see her girlfriend again which sucked immensely. "Look, we don't have to be enemies. We can work together." Clarke said without stopping walking, she actually wanted to get to Alpha Station before dark.

"And unite with someone as weak as you? I have what I need." The woman continued walking as Clarke caught with up and looked at her. "No, you don't. You don't have a clue what you're dealing with. Look, my people may be as weak as you think and to your standards, that's probably what we are but we understand the technology the Mountain Men use. If there is a way to disable it and help us get inside to rescue both of our people from that place, my people can do it." She said to her and she noticed the woman looking at her differently, with curiosity. "Let's keep going." Anya said and Clarke sighed. She would convince her and she wouldn't also let her die.

Back in Arkadia, once he walked out of the room and Alpha Station, Kane approached Raven who was sitting down working on something and he sat down beside her. She looked at him. "I already sent the boys on their mission. I said that I found another crash site and that they needed to go check with the promise that if they did, I would get them a spot on the search team going out tomorrow." She said and he nodded. "Who went out?" he asked since he wasn't around last time to know what was happening.

"Murphy, Finn, Bellamy, Monroe and Sterling. The same group as last time. Murphy and Bellamy got rifle, others are empty handed. I said that if they came back and Murphy said that they stepped a foot out of line, not only would they in no way be allowed out of camp much less join the search party as I would also personally get Jaha to imprison them and punish them for disobeying a direct order from a superior." She said firmly and he nodded. "Very good. By my calculations, she gets back tonight, isn't it?" he asked her and she nodded.

"Yeah. It would be nice if she wasn't met with bullets, you know?" She said suggestively and he smiled. "Don't worry. I will not let that happen." He said to her and looked out and saw Callie with his Mom and he looked back at Raven. "I have to go. Thanks for the help." He said to her and she smiled seeing Wick come in her direction. "Don't worry. I got this." She said and he stood up and went towards the two women of his life.

"Hey, what are guys doing?" he said as he got closer. "We're planting the tree on the ground." Callie said looking up to him and he smiled as he knelt down by them and started helping. "Do you remember when you used to help me water the tree?" His mother said as he helped her dig and he smiled. "I do, I used to love it." He said and she smiled and nodded. "I had always hoped that this tree could be planted in our new home on the ground but I never thought I would be the one to do it." She said and he smiled at her.

"I'm glad I could make it happen, Mom. I'm happy you and Callie got to be with me here." He said and she smiled. They dug an hole big enough and his mom, Martha, gently took the tree from the vase and put it on the ground as her son and daughter-in-law helped her cover the roots as they patted it and stood up to look at it in silence for a while before Martha spoke up. "I should go back inside, see if I can help." She said kissing his cheek and squeezing Callie's hand before leaving them by themselves.

Kane moved forward and hugged Callie's waist as she smiled and put her arms around his neck. "It was very sweet of you to leave your post to help your mom plant her tree." She said and he nodded. "It was the least I could do besides since I was a little boy, she talked about doing it, I would have felt completely left out if I had not been a part of it." He said and she smiled. "Well, you are so busy keeping us safe that I thought you didn't have time to come help us but I am glad you did." She said before kissing him.

"I will always find time for you and my mom." Kane said as he kissed her back passionately, he loved her very much so. He would say that since they returned he was able to love her more and better than he did last time. He was also able to be a better husband and he was glad to have her here with him. They pulled back. "So what do you think of Earth so far?" He asked her and she sighed. "Well, there are more dangers than I thought there would be but I still think it's beautiful." She said to him and he looked at her.

"No matter what happens, I will not let anything bad happen to you, okay? I promise you, I will keep you safe. I can't lose you." He said sincerely to her and she smiled at her husband. "I know you will and you're not going to lose me, I have no plans on going anywhere. I will be staying right here. But you also need to be careful because I can't lose you too. I worked too hard too long for you to give us a chance, I'm not going to let you waste my time and efforts by getting yourself hurt." She said joking and he smiled remembering their beginning.

He used to be someone very closed. He had been trained as a guard before Jaha won the election for Chancellor and called him to join him and be a part of the Council as head of Security. He didn't use to smile or waste time dating, he was so focused on his work, he didn't pay attention to anything else until Callie started talking to him even when he ignored her, asking her to go away but she never did. She persisted and in the end, he accepted going on a date with her and they had been together ever since being married for three years already.

"I love you." He said to her and she smiled lovingly at him. "I love you too." She said as they kissed each other again before they pulled back and hugged each other tightly, just as Kane was called for again, Jaha needing his help with something. It was like Jaha didn't know what to do, what choices to mark. "I have to go", he said and she smiled. "I have to go see Abby anyway." She said and they walked back inside, saying goodbye as he went towards the station and she went to Medical tent. Callie got inside and only Abby was there, perfect.

"Hey, Abby." She called for the woman who turned to look at her best friend. "Hey, I'm sorry we haven't talked a lot, it's just with Clarke and the kids missing and all of that." Abby said and Callie joined her. "I know and I am sure they will be found soon but that is not why I came here." She said nervous and Abby saw that. "What is it then?" She asked her and Callie told her and Abby only had a surprised look on her face. "Really? Are you sure about this?" And Callie nodded. "I am. Can you help me?" Callie asked her and Abby smiled. "It will be my pleasure."

Meanwhile in another part of camp, as Kane had left, Raven was joined by Wick. "Hey, mechanic." Wick said as he came to sit by her side where Kane had been seated previously and she nodded at him. "Hey, engineer. How has Earth been for you?" she asked him and he smiled. "Oh you know. I would say it suits me just fine." He said to her and she laughed at him. "So, I saw your boyfriend leaving." He said to her and she nodded. "Ex-boyfriend and yes. They went out on a mission. Why the question?" she asked him and he shook his head.

"Nothing." He said as she moved forward to grab a tool from the floor and he saw the necklace she was wearing along with her Raven one. "So it was for you." He said and she looked back at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?" she asked and he pointed at Clarke's necklace and she looked back at him. "What about it?" she asked putting it back inside her shirt. She didn't want anyone else to see it and question her about it, especially the grounder who was inside because she was sure he would recognize it as being Lexa's symbol and Clarke would have to tell the truth so she would have to keep that in check.

"Nothing, it's just that Kane brought a drawing for me of that and asked me to make that necklace, said it was a gift for someone. I just didn't know it was for you." He said to her and she shook her head. "It's no mine. My friend gave it to me to keep it safe, that's all you need to know. Now why don't you go and do something useful? Which is very hard for you since you are not useful at all." She said and he sighed. "Okay, leaving. Mechanics." He said the last part scoffing and left as she chuckled and continued working.

Back in the woods, the trip was done in silence, Clarke urging them forward and that way they were able to cover a lot of ground without having to worry about the Mountain Men following and hunting them so there was no mud, thankfully. Clarke also made sure to make as little noise while walking as she could which Anya pointed it out. Then, hours after their escape, Clarke and Anya were finally getting closer to the little river where Clarke hit Anya with the dart that she didn't have here but she had her hands and she had them loose already.

So when they got to the river, Clarke asked to stop to drink a little water and Anya agreed so she drank and once they started moving, she grabbed the rope in her hands that she got it loose and then in one swift movement, she wrapped around the woman's neck and made pressure. She fought back but Clarke knew what she was doing so once she was sure Anya had passed out, she let it go. She checked her pulse and she was still alive. Clarke then tied Anya's hands and picked her up over her shoulder.

She could make a stretcher like she did before but it would take too much time away from them and she trained for months on the Ark and knew she could do it so she started walking as fast as she could with the woman on her shoulder. Luckily, they were already near the dropship so speeding up her pace as much as she possibly could, Clarke was able to reach the place within half an hour. She got there and dropped Anya to the ground as she walked to where she knew was her mom's warning and she smiled as it was still a little readable.

Then as before, she heard Anya get up and Clarke looked behind and raised her hands. "Okay, Anya. Let's talk first." Clarke said as the woman threw a punch that she dodged moving out of the way just as the woman managed to throw another one that hit her in the nose and she started bleeding as she threw a few more and the blonde knew she would get a few bruises at least. Clarke then threw one of her own and caught the woman on her side and then punched on the face as she sent her down. "Anya, stop. We don't have to do this." She said as she saw the woman grab a knife from the ground and stand up.

"Yes, we do." The grounder said and moved forward and Clarke was able to dodge her movements and then she grabbed the woman's hand that was holding the knife and flipped the woman to the ground as she straddled her holding both of her hands and hit the general a couple of times making her dizzy. "Stop fighting me. I am not your enemy, Mount Weather is. We can work together, Anya. I know we can." She said panting as she spit out some blood.

"Did we really had to do this? Jesus Christ. You people are stubborn." She said to Anya. She took the knife and put on her belt and looked down at her. "Now, I was hoping you would come willingly but since that word doesn't seem to register to you. I have no other choice. Come on. I need to show you something." She said grabbing the rope and putting around the woman's hands, tighter than before but not enough to cut the circulation and pulled her up.

"Let's go." She said and started pulling the woman as they started running in the direction of where Clarke knew Alpha Station would be at. Thanks to the lack of interference in the events of the day, she was able to get them to her people's camp while the sun was still out. She judged that the night would be falling soon but at least she got here faster than last time as they came to look at it while kneeling in the woods, hidden away. "How many are there?" Anya asked her and Clarke shrugged. "I don't know. As many as possible, I hope." She said to the grounder and undid the tie on the woman's hands.

"Now, I will let you go. Despite everything, I trust that you and I have the same goals and that is to rescue our people from the Mountain." She said and the woman nodded slowly. "Like I said it before, my people understand their technology and we can work on that and your people can help with the knowledge of this world and with warriors. Please, let's work together and get our people out of that hellhole. I know we can work together. Trust me as I am trusting you." She said sincerely and Anya thought about it for a while.

"The Commander was my second. I can get you an audience with her." She said and Clarke smiled. "Thank you so much." She said hugging the woman who didn't know how to react so Clarke pulled back. "Thank you. Now go and try to get the Commander here as fast as you can." She said and the woman nodded. Clarke extended her arm and the woman grasped it much more comfortable with this. "Stay low and behind the bushes. My people will shoot first if they see movement." Clarke said and the woman nodded as she crawled out of where they were without making any noise or movements and Clarke only relaxed when she lost sight of her running through the woods and no shots were fired. She saved her. She saved Anya who would bring her Lexa. This day was a victory all right.

She also made it back to her people. Clarke sat down and started chuckling to herself for a few seconds before she took a deep breath and stood up. "Don't shoot! It's me, Clarke." She called out as loud as she could and saw and heard the movement on camp. The guards coming to the fence. "It's me, Clarke Griffin. Please, don't shoot. Raven, tell them not to shoot at me." She called out and soon enough she heard. "Hold your fire." She heard Kane's voice and she sighed in relief. "Clarke? Come out with your hands in the air." He said to her and slowly, she stepped out of the woods and came into view.

Luckily for her, Raven opened the gates and came running at her and hugged her. "Bitch, I was worried about you." She said and Clarke laughed hugging her back. "I know. I was worried about me too." She said pulling back chuckling as they made their way to camp and Clarke noticed the name. "Arkadia?" she asked and Raven smiled. "Jaha is here, sweet cheeks." She said and Clarke laughed and when she looked at the gates, her mom, dad and Charlotte were there and she looked at Raven who nodded before she took running and threw herself at her dad who twirled her around and soon enough, she was enveloped in a tight family hug and she was happy.


	68. Awaited return

Day 4 - return

"Clarke, you made it back." Charlotte said as the family pulled back from her and the little girl hugged her tightly. "I promised you I would, didn't I? Seriously, you people need to have more faith in me." Clarke said as the girl looked at her smiling and nodded. "I was worried." Charlotte said and tears feel down her eyes and Clarke wiped them away. "I know but I am right here, mostly intact so everything is fine, okay? There is no need to worry anymore." She said gently and the young girl nodded at her hugging her again.

"Sweetheart, you have blood all over your face, we need to get you checked. See if you're okay, if there are any injuries or anything we should know about." Abby said to her daughter worriedly and Clarke just shook her head. "No, Mom. I need to speak with the rest of the Council right now, there is something you must know immediately. It's about the people who took us." She said to her mother and pulled back from Charlotte as she looked at Raven. "How many of us are here?" she asked the mechanic.

"Nine." Raven answered her. "The boys?" she asked her and she nodded. "Clarke, slow down. Go with your mother and get checked out." Jaha said to her and she just looked at him before she looked at Raven motioning for her to come near her. "I won't slow down because I have many things to do. And mom, I am fine. The cuts are not that deep. I just need to get clean. Raven, come with me. I need to talk to you." She said hugging her parents and Charlotte as well as Kane, whispering to him to get the council together.

Then she moved past everyone and along with Raven, she walked inside Alpha Station. "Where are the boys?" she asked her once Raven showed her inside what was their shared room and closed the door behind them for privacy. "Gone after the station, Murphy went with them with clear instructions to not let them go anywhere else. They should be back by tomorrow. Anya?" Raven asked her as Clarke started removing the grounder clothes. "Sponge bath, how I missed those." Clarke said as she got inside the bathroom and started cleaning herself.

"Anya is fine and on her way back to her people to get me an audience with Lexa." She said and Raven smirked from where she was, away to give the girl some privacy. "Your white ass can't' wait to see Her Commanderness, can you?" Raven said joking and Clarke smiled and shaking her head to herself. "I have waited a year to see her. I can't believe that she's only two days away." She said as she pushed the sponge on her legs. "And our friends inside the Mountain?" Raven asked her. "I was able to get Jasper, Jessica and Monty on our side and onto the rebellion so that's a win." Clarke said as the brunette agreed and the blonde continued on with her bath.

The blonde than grabbed the new undergarments that Raven had given her almost walked out earlier angry with something from the other team. "Your outfit, princess." Raven said as Clarke saw it was the same one as before and smiled putting it on before turning to Raven. "How do I look?" she asked her and Raven smirked. "Like a leader." She said giving Clarke the necklace back as the blonde looked at it, she smiled and put it around her neck and Raven smiled at her before they walked out of the room and suddenly, Clarke was enveloped in a hug and she immediately knew that it was Wells. "Hey." She said to him as he twirled her around and put her down.

"Nice looking face." He said joking at her and she smiled. "It is good to see you too Wells." She said to him and he smiled before turning serious. "Clarke, what about Jessica?" he asked her. "She is fine and I promise to tell you everything but later. Now I have to go talk to the council, okay? I promise." She said to him and he nodded. "Okay, I will see you later." He said to her and she nodded as they hugged once more and the girls went on their way coming to what was made to be the new council room, seeing everyone inside standing by the table, she nodded and joined them with Raven by her side.

"Okay, I will go straight to the point. I was in Mount Weather." She said to them and they were shocked except Raven and Kane but they knew how to pretend. "You told us Mount Weather was off limits with the grounders." Jaha said to her and she nodded. "And it is, for good reason. There are people leaving inside Mount Weather, the grounders call them the Mountain Men and they are not nice people." She said to them. "Why do you say that, kiddo?" Jake asked her. "They capture grounders to drain them of their blood." She said at once.

"What? Why would they do such a thing?" Abby asked her shocked at the cruelty of such an act. "Apparently, the grounders and us were exposed to radiation and we evolved. Natural selection, the strongest survive. They didn't. The air is toxic to them so whenever they are exposed to it, they get radiation burns and apparently the treatment is to have transfusion of blood from the grounders. It helps cure the burns." She said as she let everyone digest the news. "And what about the other kids?" Kane asked and she silently thanked him for it.

"They are the ones I am worried about. The transfusion helps but it is not a permanent solution, which is why they still live in an underground bunker." She said as she looked at them. "Mom, what would they have to do to get a permanent resistance for radiation?" Clarke asked Abby as they looked at her. "Bone marrow transplant, it is the only way for that." She said and Clarke nodded. "Exactly what I suspected. Thing is, we were exposed to solar radiation which is much stronger than the one on Earth and I fear that once they connect the dots, they will turn my friends into the donors and I am not sure it will be done willingly." She said worriedly.

"And what do you suggest we do then, Clarke?" Raven asked her. "I managed to escape the Mountain with a grounder we know, a woman named Anya. I convinced her to get me an audience with the Commander, who is the leader of all grounders, so that I can maybe get a truce with them and get both people to work together to get all of our people out of that place, as fast as we can." She said to them and she saw Jaha straighten up. "We appreciate all you've done, Clarke but we will take it from here." He said and she shook her head. "No, you won't. The deal I made, I will honor it and so will the grounders." She said firmly.

"Now, if you don't mind. I am quite tired and I need to sleep." Clarke said turned around and left as Raven looked at Jaha and smirked. "The youth have inherited the Earth." She said to him before following her friend out as Kane smirked a little before schooling his face. "Chancellor, we need to devise a plan to get to those kids before what Clarke said happens. It was a very good idea of her to get the grounders to work together with us." He said and Jaha nodded. "It was but I will be the one talking to this Commander. Now I think we had too many emotions for one day, I suggest we retire for the day." Jaha said and dismissed them.

Clarke got to their room and sat down on her bed and not long after that, there was a knock and she already knew who it was. "Come in guys." She said smiling and the door opened and her parents came inside as she smiled at her mom when she noticed the med-kit on her hand and her mom sitting down by the bed. "Hi, kiddo." Her Dad said getting a chair to sit down beside the bed and across from them. "Look at me, while I take care of this." Abby said to her and Clarke sat facing her mother as she started checking her bruises.

"How did you get out, kid?" Her Dad asked and she started telling them everything that happened. "Well, from the moment, I woke up there and I looked at the place, I knew something was wrong. Everything was just too perfect, everyone was just too friendly, it was too good to be true so I became suspicious of them, especially when their president wouldn't let us to come searching for our friends and the rest of you guys. But I also knew I couldn't draw their attention to me so I pretended to be grateful and with the help of two of my friends, I found a way to discover what they were hiding,"

"I got into medical and from there I ended up in this horrible place, I heard them call the harvest chamber is where they keep hundreds of grounders locked in cage and string them up to drawn them of their blood." She said and noticed her parents look. "I didn't think it was possible to be this disgusted and angry with people you never met." Jake said to them and Abby nodded agreeing with her husband. "What they are doing is inhuman and wrong in every single way." Abby said and Clarke nodded.

"I know but well, that was when I found Anya, I got her out of the cage and by luck found a room that would take us outside the Mountain, from then on, we just ran as far from that place as we could until we came back here. Luckily, I convinced her that we need each other to free our people that are still there, still prisoners of those monsters." She finished as did her mother with her injuries. "Well, we are just glad you are safe and back home with us. Everything else, we will deal with it together, as a family." Her dad said and kissed her head and she smiled at him nodding.

Once they talked and caught up with each other, they left her to sleep and she did, she slept through the morning and into the afternoon until Raven came to get her. "Clarke, wake up. The boys and O are back." The brunette said to her and the blonde opened her eyes and looked at her. "All of them?" she asked her worried and Raven nodded smiling. "All of them, free of massacre. Just as instructed." She said and the blonde practically jumped out of bed and grabbed her jacket before she started to run and Raven went running after her.

Then, Clarke got outside and saw them getting through the gates and as Murphy pointed her out, she saw all of them looking at her as Finn was the first one to start running towards her and hugged her picking her up from the ground. "Finn, put me down." She said to him, not unkindly and he did as he grabbed her face and kissed her but she pushed him away. "Finn, no. We talked about this." She said to him and he nodded. "I'm sorry, I was just so worried." He said and she nodded as she moved past him and hugged Bellamy and then she turned to Murphy and hugged him tight.

"I'm glad you made it back. I was almost worried." He said into her shoulder and she nodded. "I know. Thank you." She said to him and he nodded knowing exactly everything she meant by that and she pulled back, hugging Octavia as well. "How many with you?" Bellamy asked her and she turned to him. "None. I barely escaped myself." She said and Finn stepped forward. "Grounders?" he asked her and she shook her head. "No. Mountain Men." She said to him. "Let's sit down so that you can catch up to what's going on." Raven said and the small group sat down and Clarke sighed as she noticed Finn made sure to sit by her side.

She proceeded to tell them everything from the place, to their friends, the blood, what they believe was a bone marrow donation situation in the near future, escaping with Anya and having an audience with the Commander soon enough as the sky got dark and the fires were started around camp and whatever light they had, was turned on. "Clarke, it's not safe for you to go and meet with this Commander. They could try to hurt you or kill you." Finn said worried and she looked at him.

If only he knew how wrong he was. How much is hurting and killing her to be away from the Commander, from Lexa, from the love of her life, her soulmate, how she is counting down every second, how is seems that time is not passing by fast enough. How he doesn't know that she will never be safer than with Lexa, sweet Lexa who would never raise a hand to hurt her or let anyone else do it either. But he didn't know and it wasn't his place to know it either. "It's the only chance our friends have, Finn." She said firmly to him. "Okay, so what's the plan?" Bellamy asked her and she sighed. "Still working on one. I can only tell you what it is once I met with the Commander and I have the truce." Clarke said to them and they nodded.

"Do you really think that the grounders will help us?" Octavia asked her. "I think that they have as much interest in kicking some mountain men's ass for good as us." Murphy said to them and Clarke smiled. "Exactly what I am counting on. Now, if you guys don't mind, can you leave me alone with Raven and Murphy?" she said to them and the Blake's nodded as they moved away. "Clarke, can we talk?" Finn asked her and she sighed. "Later, okay?" she said gently and he nodded as he left and she sighed.

"He hasn't given up, has he?" Murphy asked her and she shook her head. "I thought he had but he has been getting particular closer since we got captured by Anya to save Tris." She explained and Raven sighed. "He better get the memo because once your hotness gets here and you get her back…" Raven said not finishing the phrase before Murphy joined in teasing. "Yeah, once she sees him like that with you, being all touchy, Clarke I love you, stay with me, we can say bye, bye Finn. It was nice knowing you before she cuts him into tiny pieces." He said joking and Clarke smirked.

"It's not going to come to that." She said to him and he scoffed at her answer. "Oh come on. Are you going to tell me that she won't get jealous of him?" he asked her and she shook her head even though he could barely looked at her. "No, there is reason for her to be jealous of him or anyone. I love her. I don't have romantic feelings for Finn nor should I whatsoever. What is there for you to be jealous about?" she said to them and the two of them looked at each other.

"What?" she asked him innocently trying to pass on a certain image. "Look, I know her and she will totally be okay with Finn being by my side all the time, kissing me in front of everyone when he gets worried. Telling me he loves me. She will be okay with all of that. It's not like she got jealous when I worried about Bellamy getting himself killed in the mountain. Not territorial like at all. Nope, not a chance. She doesn't get jealous." Clarke said to them and shrugged before she started laughing out loud.

"You were playing with us." Raven said to her and Clarke smiled. "Of course I was playing with you guys, don't you think I know my own girlfriend by now? She will be besides herself with jealousy if Finn tries to do those things which is why I will, I need to talk to him and make sure he understand my feelings for him and I will do the same with her. Lexa is a drama queen so I don't doubt she is quite capable of cutting him to pieces and scattered them around camp. Or at least get Gustus to do it." She said chuckling as they laughed with her.

Then she stopped and took on a more serious tone "Now that we established I have a jealous girlfriend, what I actually wanted to talk to you guys about was…" she was trying to say when people started calling out for grounders. The friends looked at each other as they stood up and ran towards the front and they looked out as once again, they started seeing the torches being lit up one by one as the number grew and grew and her friends just looked at her as she said.

"She's here."


	69. Reunion part I

Reunion part 1

"Clarke, why are they here now?" Raven asked her as they couldn't quite get how the grounders were here already. They had at least another couple of days before the grounders arrived the last time but as Clarke tried to connect the dots, the answer became quite clear for her. "The massacre in the village. Lexa didn't stop in TonDC for too long since it didn't happen. It must have advanced the schedule of her arrival. That is why she is early." She explained to them though she couldn't keep the smile out of her face.

She was so close. She didn't know why but something told her to close her eyes and Clarke did it and tried to concentrate on the brunette and it was almost like she could feel Lexa, her presence, her spirit, or whatever it was but most importantly, Clarke could feel Lexa's heart beating steady and strong almost as if it was beating inside her chest right next to her own heart. She had never felt this before. It was almost as if they were connected. She noticed that Lexa's heart started beating fast and Clarke got worried. Was something happening to her? Was she okay? She didn't know but Clarke was overwhelmed by whatever this was.

When Raven called her back to reality, she still look baffled thanks to the whole ordeal but she quickly composed herself as Charlotte came to her side, followed by her parents who looked at her and her friends in worry. "That is a lot of them." Charlotte said out loud sounding scared and Clarke kissed her head hugging her. "They came here to talk, just that. There is no need to worry." She assured the younger girl as her mom looked at her. "Are you sure they won't attack us?" Abby asked her and Clarke nodded her head.

"I am. They are here for the audience about Mount Weather like I said they would. If we don't attack them, they will not attack us." She said just before a guard called out that there were grounders getting close and Kane moved from where he was and went to the gates as did Clarke and everyone else that was with her. "Eyes open for anything on the woods. Stay sharp but don't fire without my orders. We don't want to start anything." Kane said as they had their rifles raised but no shots were fired.

The two riders rode their horses as they came with torches and stopped in front of the gates as everyone made silence. "Why are you here?" Kane called out to them rifle in hand. "We were sent to escort your leader to see the Commander at first light." One of the rider said and the older man sighed as Jaha stepped forward. "Hello, I'm Thelonious Jaha, I am the Chancellor." He said but the man just shook his head. "Not you. Your leader, Clarke of the Sky People." He called out and everyone turned to look at her.

"Clarke is not our leader. I am." Jaha said again but the warrior shook his head. "Doesn't matter. The commander will only speak with her." He said and Clarke stepped forward and walked until she came to the gates. "I am Clarke." She said loudly and firmly and the man looked at one another and spoke in their language to confirm the description they had of her given to them by Anya and nodded at her. "The Commander will see you in the morning and only you." The grounder said to her and she nodded.

"I will go as soon as the sun rises." She said to them and he shook his head. "We will wait." He said and she nodded knowing they wouldn't leave without an order from Lexa. So she just turned to the rest of the people. "Okay, everyone. Show is over, get back to work and to whatever you were doing before, there's nothing left for you to see." She said as she moved past Jaha and went straight to her parents and friends. "Look, I know you're worried but I will be fine. Now, let's get something to eat and then we wait for tomorrow to come." She said to them and after a little convincing, they did just that.

Her family got together and ate together with her friends joining them at their table before Clarke got up saying she was going to her room and Raven followed her since they were sharing it at the moment and once they got inside and closed the door, Clarke sat down on the bed with a huge smile on her face. "She's here, Ray. She is actually here and just a few hours away before I get to see her. I am dreaming, I swear to you. I must be." She said as Raven nodded. "Yes, she is here and earlier than planned. Clarke, what about Lincoln? We were supposed to find him tomorrow, before she arrived." She said to her and Clarke nodded.

"Sit down." She said to Raven and the girl sat on the bed facing her. "That is exactly what I was trying to tell you and Murphy before. I need you to get out tomorrow and capture Lincoln. Just capture him and then I will show them how to cure reapers and everything will work out the same. I know what to do. I just need you to lead Bellamy and Octavia in this direction." Clarke said as she passed it a paper to Raven with the directions for where they found him last time. "He will be there as a reaper and you need to get to him. Can you do it?" Clarke asked and Raven nodded.

"Of course, I can do this, sweet cheeks. So why don't you lie down and try to get some asleep? That is what I am going to do." Raven said as she went to the other side of the bed and they laid down staring at the ceiling. "I can't relax knowing I will get to hold her again tomorrow, smell her, kiss her. Tell her I love her and that I missed her so much." Clarke said as she continued to stare at the ceiling and Raven did the same. "Do you think I will feel that way once I get close to seeing Luna again?" she asked her and Clarke looked at her friend.

"I hope so and I will do my best to make sure, it doesn't take long for you. I promise." She said and Raven smiled. "I know you will but she is the problem. She had someone before she even met me, didn't she?" she asked and Clarke nodded thinking about Erik. "But if you are meant to be together and now looking back I can tell that you are too, he won't be a problem for you. She will just break up with him and get together with you." Clarke said and the two girls passed the time talking about the girls they were in love with and suddenly as Clarke looked outside of the small window of the room, the sun was up.

She got up and so did Raven. "Are you ready?" Raven asked her smiling and Clarke shook her head. "No," She said and Raven nodded chuckling . "As you shouldn't be. But now, let's go. We don't have time to waste. I will get Murphy and the Blake's to come and get Lincoln and I want all the details when I get back," She said and they hugged. "Here is the radio. Once we secured him, I will call for you. Good luck." They both said as Clarke opened the door and walked out and Raven followed her. Soon enough, she passed by her mom and Dad and Charlotte and said that she would be back soon.

She then passed by Kane and asked him to talk to Raven about a mission she has given the girl and he nodded looking confused so she just smiled at him. She said goodbye to her friends, Finn once again being clingy asking if she didn't want him to come with her and she shook her head saying there was no need and then she passed by Jaha on purpose and went towards the gates that opened for her. "I am ready." She said to the riders and they nodded turning their horses and starting going to the woods. She didn't look back but kept moving forward.

It took about 10 minutes for her walking on foot from Arkadia before she found herself climbing up the hill to where the tent was armed, with at least 6 grounders behind her and she saw Gustus there, before he started coming to stand in front of her and she stopped looking at him. "If you so much as look at her the wrong way, I will slit your throat." He said as scary as last time and she nodded before he moved away and held the flap open for her and Clarke steeled herself and her heart and walked through it and there she was.

Seating on her throne, twirling her dagger with the war paint on her face, as fierce and elegant as always. At one side, there was Indra and in the other, there was Anya. Clarke wasn't sure how her legs were working but they moved her forward until she stopped and noticed Gustus getting to his post as bodyguard. Lexa looked beautifully deadly, as the warrior and leader she is and Clarke could not stop thinking how lucky she was that Lexa loved her. She must have done something incredible to deserve someone like her.

"You're the one who burned three hundred of my warriors alive." Lexa said with that sweet velvet and intense tone of voice and finally looked up at her and Clarke felt her knees go weak, she, honest to God, did not know how she stayed on her feet and didn't crumble to the ground with the intensity of the feelings she felt inside every cell on her body, her mind, her soul, everywhere, when their eyes locked on one another. She could feel the tears coming up but she pushed them down, she couldn't cry, not now. Not yet.

It's been so long since she saw those eyes and heard that voice that Clarke almost forgot what she was supposed to say after that but luckily, she remembered on time and kept the conversation with her girlfriend going. "You're the one who sent them there to kill us." She said firmly but gently as the dagger came to rest its tip on the wood on the arm of the throne. "Anya told me that you wanted to speak with me about the Mountain, that you two escaped it together. Is that true?" Lexa asked her and Clarke nodded at her.

"Yes, it is the truth. By luck, I found her and managed to get us out of there safely. I am glad to see you made it safely to back to your people, Anya." Clarke said the last part looking at the woman in question who gave her a small nod in recognition and Clarke nodded in return. She had learned to respect Anya and even like her, which was good considering the nature of her relationship with Lexa. Anya was part of her family and Clarke didn't want to have the woman hate her, she could at least tolerate her and Clarke would count that as a win.

"What about the Mountain?" Lexa asked her and Clarke sighed. "I can help you beat them. There are hundreds of your people trapped inside Mount Weather. Their blood is used as medicine." She said as Lexa looked at her curiously. "Medicine for what?" Indra asked her. "Radiation. From the bombs that almost destroyed everything once a hundred years ago." Clarke said to the woman. "Explain to me how." Lexa said relaxing on her throne.

For Lexa, there was something about this blonde that was speaking to parts of her that she thought she had buried a long time ago. The moment she looked at those eyes she felt as if a shock of electricity had gone through her body, however she kept her mask intact but there was something about the blonde that was calling to her, for her to get closer and something told her that she didn't need to be on alert, that she was safe with the blonde so she relaxed.

Clarke took a deep breath and nodded her head before starting. "The bombs that were launched and almost destroyed the world and human race were nuclear, which means they emanated radiation to the air, your people were exposed to it and evolved. Your bodies adapted and started reacting to it less and less and as that was passed down from generation to generation, you became highly tolerant to it." Clarke explained as best as she could to the grounders in the tent though not taking her eyes off of Lexa.

"My people went through the same process only that we faced the radiation of the sun and from being in space where the levels of radiation are much higher." Clarke said to them. "And what that has to do with the Mountain Men?" Lexa asked her and Clarke looked at her intensively. She was counting the seconds before she could trigger Lexa and have those beautiful green eyes fill with love as they look at her. She wanted that more than anything but her duty spoke up and she continued the talk.

"The Mountain Men didn't evolve at all, they didn't go through the same process my people or yours did to adapt to the radiation. They can't tolerate it. That is why they live inside a Mountain and why when they come out, they wear strange looking clothes. They are special suits to protect them from the radiation. Our air is toxic to them." Clarke explained to them and she could see the surprised faces on the warriors inside the tent though Lexa quickly schooled her features again.

"They capture your people and drain them of their blood so that every time they get contaminated with radiation, they receive the blood and within hours, they are cured of the wounds caused by the exposure. That is how I found out about it. One of their soldiers got badly burned thanks to exposure to our air and then hours later, most of the burns were gone and I was suspicious about it." Clarke explained her story to them as Lexa paid attention to every word she was saying. God, how she loved this woman.

"When I found a way to investigate how the hell did he got cured from it so fast and what cure were they using on him, that was when I got to where he received the 'treatment' as they call it, I followed the blood that he was receiving, traced it all the way to the source of it and came to what they call the harvest chamber and saw two of your people being hung upside down being drained of their blood and that was when I found Anya in one of the cages. I believe the rest she has told you." Clarke finished talking.

"How can you help us defeat them?" Anya asked her. "For starters, I think I can help you with the reapers problem." She said to them and Indra scoffed disbelievingly. "How?" Lexa asked her intrigued by this blonde sky girl and Clarke looked at her before answering. "When I ran into them a couple of times, I noticed that a few of them had tattoos on their faces, just like some of you have." She said motioning to Indra's face tattoo to use as an example.

"So I figure they were from your people once." She said to her and Lexa nodded. "The Mountain Men capture our strongest men and then next time we see them, they are reapers. Monsters. Mindless beings who would kill their own family, rip the apart, if they were unlucky enough to cross his path and he would do so without one ounce of regret." Lexa explained to her and Clarke nodded her head. She knew that from Lincoln who almost killed Octavia. He didn't recognized her which she remembered hurt the girl a lot.

"That is what I thought but then I got thinking about it and something intrigued me. How could normal people become like that overnight? How could they lose any sense of humanity inside of them? How could they become mindless being like you said? And that was when I remembered that when Anya and I were getting out of the Mountain, one of them got really close to us. The one pushing the chart we were in." She looked at Anya and so did the others as the woman nodded to validate that there was indeed a reaper that did that.

And they turned back to Clarke and waited for her to continue. "I tried to look at him and noticed his tattoo so as I had an idea, I took a wild guess and looked at his neck and that was when I noticed some marks, like needle marks, on the side of his neck and then everything clicked into place for me, it all made sense. The reapers, your warriors that get captured are being injected with some kind of drug and that is what turns them into those monsters. And with the problem being a drug, there is a way to turn them back." Clarke said to them.

"I have sent a group of my people to capture one and when they do, I can show you how to do it so even if they get captured and turn, all you have to do is catch them and turn them back. Well, at least until we defeat the Mountain once and for all." Clarke said to them. "What do you want in return for that help?" Indra asked her. "I want for us to have peace and to work together to get both of our people out of there. You have hundreds inside and I have 64 and only together, will we be able to save them before more of them die." Clarke said. "You believe we can have this truce?" Lexa asked and Clarke knew this was her cue.

"I believe so, yes. After all, life is about more than just surviving, don't you think?"


	70. Reunion part II

Reunion part 2

Clarke could feel and see that Lexa was remembering everything from the other timeline they lived as well as everything they lived through in the Valley, she could feel her own heart beating so fast like it was going to jump out of her chest in anticipation as she waited to do this for the past year. Every moment she spent in the Ark, whether consciously or not, she dreamt about this moment. The moment in which she would get her girlfriend back to her, that they would be together again and she was waiting with baited breath as she saw Lexa's eyes widen.

She waited a few seconds in silence and soon enough, when the process was done, she could see Lexa's eyes going back to normal but she also saw the change in the way the commander looked at her in particular, the love was there, it was how she knew it was her Lexa again that was looking at her and that made Clarke almost smile. She had to subdue a sob that threatened to make its out of her throat but seeing Lexa maintain her commander face even with the return of her memories helped her keep her own face emotionless.

"I do think that as well and your ideas seem impressive. I agree that with your people's help, we will have a better chance at defeating the Mountain Men but I cannot simply agree to a truce with your people based on blind faith." Lexa said to her and Clarke nodded knowing they needed to do this first before getting to talk about them. "I understand, Commander. And I figured this would be a possibility so all I ask is that you give me some time to test my theory and if I am right, then we can have our truce and move forward together to defeat the Mountain." Clarke said to her and Lexa nodded her head.

"Very well, Clarke. I give you my word that my people will not attack unless yours do first, until you can prove to me that reapers can really be turned back to who they were before, that you can cure them. You will have one day to do so or tomorrow, we will attack." Lexa said firmly and Clarke nodded at her. "Thank you for your trust and your understanding, Commander. I know I can do this. That we can do this." Clarke said giving her a small smile as Lexa gave a small nod before turning to the other grounders in the tent.

" _All of you_ , _leave us. There are questions I need to ask Clarke of the Sky People alone and I don't want anyone coming inside without my permission, not even you Gustus. I want complete privacy for our talk. Go."_ The Commander said to them and Clarke made a huge effort to hide the smile that wanted to come out. She would finally be alone with her Lexa again and she was feeling herself getting giddier and giddier and the others could not leave fast enough for her. " _But Commander, are you sure is safe?"_ Indra asked her and Lexa looked at her.

" _I believe I can take care of her if needed. Now, do as I say, Indra. Leave us. All of you."_ Lexa said and they nodded before walking out of the tent. Gustus gave Lexa one more look but she shut him down with a glare of her own and he turned around leaving the tent and they just stared at each other for a few while before Clarke moved to speak. "Lexa, I…" she started saying but the brunette didn't give her time as she quickly left her throne, coming towards Clarke, grabbing her face and crashing their lips together.

The moment she felt those lips on her own, those hands touching her, that body pressed against hers, Clarke felt like she had been drowning until this moment when she could finally get to the surface so she could breathe fresh air again. Like she had been blind and was finally able to see again everything, as if she had been trapped and finally earned her freedom. Her heart was jumping around inside her chest wanting to burst. She held Lexa's face, pulling her close as they deepened the kiss, titling their heads for better access.

Within no time, their tongues met and Clarke could not help the moan that escaped her lips which were being bitten on by Lexa, not that Clarke was complaining, quite the opposite actually. She was loving every moment of it. She wrapped her arms around Lexa's shoulder as she felt the brunette wrap hers around the blonde's waist, pulling her as close as humanly possible. There was no way in this moment where you could prove that they were actually two different people instead of one being, at least that was how they both felt.

For Lexa, this whole experience was all overwhelming, to be completely honest. She had come simply to talk with the leader of the Sky People, the invaders of her land, a simple sky girl, at the behest of Anya who convinced her to give the girl an audience, give her a chance and just now, she drowned in a sea of memories of events that didn't happen yet, things she hadn't done, people she hadn't seen or met and Clarke. The girl who stole her heart and changed her life forever, the girl who she loved more than anything, more than anyone.

Clarke was standing right in front of her and it took every single ounce of self-restraint Lexa had in her body not to do this the moment she remembered who and what the girl standing in front of her meant to her heart, to her mind and to her soul. Years of masking her emotions in front of other people made her capable of continuing the conversation despite the storm of feelings going around inside her heart but as soon as she could, she had to dismiss everyone and do this. She couldn't wait any longer.

Once air was needed, they finally pulled it back from the kiss but not from each other. Instead, they simply rested their foreheads on each other as their breaths mingled together. "You have no idea how much I dreamt of this. I missed you so much. I thought I was going to go crazy for how much I longed for you." Clarke said whispering with tears falling down her face, she couldn't hold them in any longer not with Lexa so close like this, not with Lexa being hers again and all Lexa did was smile at her with tears in her eyes as well.

"I missed you too, my love. I almost can't believe you're here in my arms again." Lexa said pulling back to look at Clarke, she took a moment just to admire her lover's face and her feature that captured Lexa in their depth since the first time she looked at them. "How I missed those eyes." Lexa said with love in her voice and Clarke smiled. "And I missed you, all of you. Your eyes, your hair, your face, your smell, everything," Clarke said as she put her head on the crook of Lexa's neck and breathed in her scent.

"I have waited for this moment for a year you know." Clarke said pulling back and looking at Lexa who smiled at her. "I know, I know. I love you so much, Clarke." Lexa said to her and Clarke smiled closing her eyes. "Say that again," She said and Lexa repeated over and over again while kissing her face, her lips and her neck. "I love you too so much. So so much." Clarke said as they pulled back. "As much as I would love to stay here with you, it will be suspicious if you stay here for too long so you need to go now." Lexa said to her and Clarke nodded.

"I know. I just hate having to leave you now that I have you back with me." She said to her and Lexa nodded. "I feel the same but we have a mission and as soon as we're in TonDC, I will be able to show you just how much I missed you." She said to her and Clarke smiled at what that meant. "But for now, you have to go. It is safer for us and our people that way." Lexa said to her and Clarke nodded. "I will probably be back in the afternoon with Lincoln." She said and Lexa nodded. "Then we can have the truce and move to TonDC to start planning." She agreed.

Clarke kissed her one last time, long and passionate before she pulled back. "I love you." She said. "I love you too, now go." Lexa said to her and Clarke didn't know how she found the strength to walk away from Lexa but she did and went out of the tent, looking like a strong leader rather than a teenager in love. She passed by Gustus, Anya and Indra as she heard Lexa's voice calling for them. She sighed and walked back towards her camp. While on the way, she heard Raven through the radio. "Clarke, you there?" the mechanic asked her and Clarke picked it up and answered. "Yeah, I'm here, Ray. What happened?" she asked her.

"We found Lincoln, he is a reaper." Raven said with surprise and sadness in her voice and that is how Clarke knew the others were listening because if they weren't, there would be no need for pretense. "Are you serious?" she asked acting as surprised. "Yeah, we came to this parking lot and he was there, it was horrible. We captured him and we're taking him to the drop ship. Can you come soon so you can check him out?" Raven asked her. "Of course. I'm on my way to camp. I will debrief them on my conversation with the Commander, get my mom and go straight there." Clarke said to them. "Okay, see you there." Raven said and disconnected.

Clarke soon came to the gates of Arkadia that opened for her and the people started gathering around her, asking her things about the meeting, if there was a truce or if there would be an attack. Luckily, Murphy came through and pushed them back and silenced them so Clarke could speak. "Everyone, listen up. Talks of truce with the grounders are almost complete. For now, all I can say is that they will not attack us unless we attack them first so calm down and relax. I guarantee you I am doing the best I can and soon, we will be able to focus on getting to Mount Weather to rescue the kids." Clarke said to them and they nodded.

She left the place along with Murphy. "Who went with Raven?" she asked him. "The Blake's and Kane. Wells stayed to make sure you came back safely from the meeting. Finn is being obnoxiously protective of you, just so you know. The Commander? How is she?" he asked her and she smiled. He chuckled at her. "Got her back, huh?" he said to her and she nodded. "I did but now I have to talk to the council and then bring my mom to the drop ship." She said just as Wells, Charlotte and Finn came to their side. "Clarke, you met the Commander? Is a man or a woman?" the little girl asked and she nodded.

"I did and it's a woman. Around Bellamy's age, I would guess." Clarke said knowing that Lexa was only a few months younger than Bellamy himself which roughly made the brunette 4 to 5 years older than her, a fact that didn't bother Clarke at all. She knew Lexa was very much wiser beyond her years and that was one of the many qualities she had as a person and as a leader and the blonde could only smile. "Is she beautiful?" Charlotte asked her and Clarke smiled before nodding. "Very much so." She answered truthfully.

Lexa was the very definition of beautiful to Clarke, she was perfect, her face, her body, everything. Lexa was an Earth Goddess, at least to Clarke she was. "So what happens now with us and our friends in the Mountain, Clarke?" Wells asked her and she looked at him, ignoring the look Finn was giving her. "Now, I need to prove myself and then we can have our truce to get them back." Clarke said to him and he nodded at her. "I'm sorry but I have to go and deal with this. I see you guys soon." Clarke said kissing Charlotte's head and calling out for Murphy to follow her.

"The Council?" she asked him and he sighed as they went inside the station. "Discussing your meeting with the grounders. I don't know why you haven't gotten rid of them. The people would support you if you did. I know I would." He said scoffing and she shook her head. "I may be a leader but I have no need or wish to be Chancellor. I am helping secure what is in my power but I will not be Chancellor. However, before I am done, I will make sure to remodel what the Council looks like now." She explained to him and he nodded.

Soon enough, they came to the room where the council was meeting and the doors opened as she walked in. "Hello." She said to them as she went to her parents who hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay." Abby said to her and Clarke nodded before pulling back from their hug and looking at everyone else who was in there. "So tell us, Clarke. What did the Commander say?" Jaha asked her and she looked at him. "She said we can have the truce if I can prove that I can turn reapers back into men." She said to them.

"What is a reaper?" Jake asked her. "A reaper is another cruel creation of the Mountain Men. They are men captured from the Commander's people who I believe are being drugged and they get turned into cannibal monsters who wouldn't recognize their own family if he saw them." Clarke explained. She could see the shocked faces from them as well as the fear of thinking about facing the reapers and an enemy such as the Mountain Men. Thankfully, she is in charge or else if it was up to some of these members, her people would be doomed.

"And why do you think you can turn them back? That is even possible?" A councilor Clarke didn't remember the name of and didn't care to ask about questioned her. "'If they really are being drugged and it is what causes the change in behavior, if we can get the drug to leave their system, they should be back to themselves. All they need is help to pass through the phase of withdrawal. If they do that, they should be okay." Clarke explained to them and she turned to the side and looked at her mom.

"A group left camp in the same time I did with the mission to capture one and they did. Luckily, it was Lincoln, a grounder who helped us a while ago and if I can cure him, then we will have our truce." She explained. "And if you can't?" Abby asked her and Clarke shook her head. "That is not an option which is why I came here. To get you, Mom. He will need medical attention and I need your help." Clarke said looking at her mother who was surprised. "Clarke, your mother is needed here." Jaha said to her and Clarke shook her head.

"Jackson and Pete are here, they have Charlotte too. They can deal with the patients in the camp. However, you don't seem to understand the situation, Chancellor. If we don't do this, if we don't prove we can be of help, the grounders will wipe us out and the kids in Mount Weather will die too so Mom, you're coming with me. Let's go, right now." Clarke said to her mother. "You're not the Chancellor, Clarke. You don't get to make these decisions." Jaha said to her and Clarke looked at him intensively.

"You're right. I am not the Chancellor, that is you Jaha but it seems that I'm the only one protecting my people and guaranteeing their safety as well as making sure we don't get wiped out and also I'm the only one who seems to know what I am doing unlike you so while I may not wear that pin, I do get to make these decisions since you seem to be in way over your head with this leadership thing. So my mom **is** coming with me. Now." She said grabbing her mother's hand and pulling her away as Murphy smirked and followed them out.

"Clarke, sweetie. I don't even know what we're dealing with." Abby said to her and Clarke looked at her. "I do. Trust me and we will be fine." She said before she escorted her mom to the medical tent where she left Jackson in charge, grabbed what she needed. Clarke made sure to give an electric bat to Murphy, just in case there wasn't one with Raven's group already and they were leaving just as they heard Jake's voice calling out to them as he ran in their direction with a bag on his shoulder. "I'm going with you." He said to her and Clarke looked at him.

"Are you sure you don't have to stay?" she asked him and he shook his head smiling at her. "No. Sinclair, Wick and the others are more than capable of handling any problem and the two of you need me so I am going. Besides I am quite curious to see this reaper, as you call him." He said and she chuckled. "You are going to wish you didn't but let's go. We don't have time to waste." She said as she turned and told the guards to open the gates and once they passed through, she sighed as she let her mind replay her moments with Lexa and allowed a small smile to grace her face as they started on their walk.


	71. Reaper recovery

Recovery

"So the Commander. What can you tell us about her?" Abby asked her as they walked towards the dropship. At a fast pace like theirs, it was a 30 minute walk from camp to the drop ship camp. Clarke looked at her mom and sighed before looking out ahead again. "She is young. Older than me by a few years, more like Bellamy's age and she seems very smart and powerful and very deadly if need be but she seems open to our proposal of truce." She said trying to sound as unaffected by the woman in question as possible though the smirk she caught on Murphy's face almost didn't let her.

"If we can cure Lincoln, then we can focus on rescuing my friends form the Mountain Men. I don't think it will be long before they connect the dots that our bone marrow is the solution for their problem and once they do, I don't think we will have much time before my friends start dying and I can't let that happen to them." Clarke said to her parents and Murphy nodded. "You won't. If anyone can save them, it's you." He said to her and she smiled at him. It was nice having this friendship with Murphy, she chose very well.

The moment was interrupted by Jake who spoke to his daughter. "Clarke, can I ask you something personal?" her father said and she looked at him. "Of course, Dad. What is it?" she asked and he sighed. And although she hadn't had time to breath since yesterday, or since she came back to camp, always something to deal with, she wanted her parents to be there for her, to be a part of her life or at least the part they could be involved in. She was glad they had both come with her so they can have a moment like this. Together.

"I saw Finn kissing you when he saw you after he and the others returned from whatever they went and he is Raven's boyfriend so what was that about?" he asked her and she sighed at the topic she didn't want to talk about. "Okay, first, he is not Raven's boyfriend anymore, they broke up shortly after she got here. Second, apparently, he is in love with me and he does those kinds of things even though I told him it won't happen. But I did not help him cheat on Raven, if that was the underlining question." She said and thought, not this time at least.

"Okay. I was afraid of that but I am happy to know you didn't. You both deserve better than that." Jake said to her and she nodded, though pushing thoughts on the fact she and Raven went through that before out of her mind. "Yeah, I'm supposed to go and talk to him about his feelings and mine as well but with everything that has been going on, I haven't had the time to just sit down with him and truly explain the situation but I will very soon. He needs to stop with doing stuff like that." Clarke said to them and her parents nodded agreeing with her.

"So how did you become the leader of the 100? How did that happen?" Abby asked curiously and Clarke smiled and from going into one she liked. "I was basically the only one with a working brain it seemed, and without a personal vendetta against the Ark so to stop them from taking the wristbands off I had to assert some kind of authority, I guess? After that, it was almost as if I was chosen by default. They started looking at me for decisions and still do so there's that to add on my resume." Clarke answered her mother.

"More like you were your bossy self and we had no choice but to do as you said." Murphy said to them and she smacked him in the arm. "You are a certified dumbass. I was not bossy." She said to him and he chuckled. "Of course not. How would anyone even think such a thing?" he said and she shook her head as her parents laughed. "You two are supposed to be defending me, not laughing at me." She said to them and they shrugged. "It's not right to go against the truth, kiddo." Her dad said to her and she looked at him. "You are the worst Dad ever, you know that right?" she said smiling and he smiled too nodding.

"Clarke, sweetie. Your friends told us at the debriefing that you almost had a truce with the grounders, is that true?" Abby asked her and Clarke nodded at her mother. "Yeah, I met with a general of the Commander's army, Anya. We were talking about having a truce and safe passage for the rest of you when you came down but a friend thought we were in danger and started shooting and the meeting was ruined. Later, Anya was the one I found inside the Mountain waiting to be the next blood bag and we got out. I convinced her to set me with an audience with the Commander and she did. Now, all that is left is prove to the Commander that they can benefit from an alliance and hope we can get our people out of that place soon" Clarke said and the others nodded.

As they came close to their camp, to what was their home for the last month, Clarke and Murphy sighed at the sight of it, the destruction of what they built day after day for the last month, it was almost all burnt to the ground as there were skeletons lying around, corpses that speak the story of what happened outside the dropship. Clarke felt extremely bad for what she had to do to all those warriors but unfortunately, she had no other choice, she had to protect her people, keep them safe and unharmed like she promised she would.

And soon enough, they all crossed the burned ground and entered the drop ship. "Ray?" Clarke called out. "Up here." The girl answered and Clarke started climbing the ladder and the other three followed as she came to where they were holding the guy down on the floor. Clarke had instructed Raven that he wouldn't be able to escape it like this and she was glad she did it. She heard her mother's gasp and looked to see both of her parents shocked as Lincoln was grunting and trashing and turning on the floor as much as the chains allowed him to.

"I told you it wouldn't be pretty." Clarke said to them before she moved towards Octavia who was sitting down in a corner and squeezed her shoulder. "O, I can cure him," Clarke said to her and the girl looked up at her with hope. "You can?" she said and the blonde nodded. "But I need you to do something for me first so that I can get to helping him faster," Clarke said and the girl stood up. "Whatever you need," She said immediately and Clarke smiled. "I need you to go and get the healer I heard of, his friend, the one that helped you. What is his name?" Clarke asked pretending not to know.

"Nyko. His name is Nyko." Octavia said quickly and Clarke nodded at her. "That one. I need him here to confirm that Lincoln really is a reaper so that if we cure him and present him to the Commander, there will be no reason to question us or the truth of what we say." Clarke said and Octavia nodded. "I will go right now," she said to the blonde and Clarke nodded. "But it needs to be fast, the Commander is giving us until the afternoon to present a cured reaper. I hope it's enough time to get him better so we can get her to believe us." Clarke said and the girl nodded moving towards the ladder.

"I'm going with her." Bellamy said but Clarke stopped him. "No, she needs to do this alone. Besides, Nyko knows her, he will be more likely to trust her if she goes by herself than if you go with her. Trust me, she will be fine, besides I need you here in case he gets loose." She said just as Lincoln started grunting louder and she looked at him. "See what I mean? I think we are going to need all the help we can get in here." She said to Bellamy before she moved towards the man and keeled beside him as he growled at her and she sighed. "Kane, can you light on his neck?" she said and the man did as she asked.

"Needle marks. I was right, they are being drugged. Does he have any wounds?" she asked them and Raven shook her head. "No, we knocked him out with the shock bat, there was no need for anything else." Raven explained and Clarke nodded. "That is good." She said just as he started seizing. "Mom." Clarke called as Abby moved to check on him. He grunted and it shocked her but Clarke distracted him while Abby checked on him. "He is running a fever." She said as she prepared to give him a medicine but he reacted. "Bellamy, hold his arm." Clarke said and the boy did as told as she moved to hold his head.

"Mom, fast." Clarke said trying to avoid him from biting her hands and Abby nodded as Lincoln continued to struggle but thanks to their hold on him, the doctor was able to inject him with the medicine. "Mom, can you bring him down from withdrawal?" Clarke asked once she let him go and he continued struggling. "Well, I don't know what he was injected with, so the process could kill him," She said to her daughter and Clarke nodded, "But I will try." The woman said and Clarke smiled nodding. "Okay, you stay here and do that. Raven, come with me for a second." She said to the girl and they got down to the second level.

"So how was your reunion with Commander?" she asked once they were alone having closed both hatches and Clarke smiled. "Perfect. Well, almost perfect because we couldn't be alone for long but she said that as soon as we show that Lincoln is cured, we will go to TonDC and will be able to be together then." Clarke said and Raven smiled. "I, for one, am happy for you. You deserve this second chance and so does she." Raven said to her and Clarke nodded. "But I am afraid Finn is going to be a problem for me." Clarke said and Raven shook her head.

"Don't worry about Finn, I will take care of him and stop him from doing anything stupid. You just take care and worry about everything else. Like a certain betrayal." Raven said seriously and Clarke sighed. "I know, believe me, I remember it perfectly so I will try to talk to her as soon as I can about that particular subject and will also try and get her to bring Luna as soon as possible so that you can seduce your nightblood with all of your mechanic awesomeness. She won't know what hit her. Literally." Clarke said and they both chuckled because of that.

"Laughter on the side, what are we going to do about Jaha? He is never going you know where." Raven said talking about ALIE and Clarke nodded. "I thought about that too but that won't be a problem, it will be the solution of one but we will cross that cyber bridge when we get to it. One problem at the time. First, the Mountain, then Pike, Nia and then her." Clarke said and Raven nodded, "You're right. We have time," She said and they continued talking with Raven explaining how they found the man and captured him.

Then, they went back up and Clarke got Kane and her dad and Bellamy to go to the second level and she helped her mother with taking care of him for a couple of hours before they heard noises as Octavia finally came up with Nyko coming behind her as he looked at his friend who grunted again but a lot weaker this time. "Is it true? He is a reaper?" he asked them and Clarke nodded. "Yes, he is but not for long." Clarke said as her mother and her continued working on him. "Have you ever captured a reaper before?" Clarke asked the grounder and he nodded.

"Yes, we tried but they all died." He answered her sadly and Clarke could see Octavia take on a deep breath. "Have you ever tried bringing them back?" she asked him and he looked confused. "What do you mean bring them back?" he asked just as Lincoln start seizing. "Mom." Clarke called and the woman nodded checking on him when he suddenly stopped. "His heart stopped, he is not breathing." Abby said and Clarke started pumping his chest and blowing air inside his lungs. "Murphy, get the bat ready." She said as the boy did so.

"Come on, Lincoln. Come on." She said as she breathed in one more time before he sucked air himself again and she breathed in relief to see that she had saved him. She checked on his pulse and opened his eyes. "Pupils are responsive." Clarke said and they continued treating him with her mom doing everything she knew would help and it took about 3 more hours before he started seizing and his heart stopped again and this time they had to use the bat and luckily he came back to life once more.

While she checked him, Clarke noticed his eyes were not as bloodshot as before so she took a chance and held his face making him face her and tried to talk to him. "Lincoln, it's Clarke. Can you understand me?" she asked him as everyone waited for his answer, to see if he could recognize them. "Octavia?" he whispered and she laughed in relief as did her mom and everyone else in the room as the girl in question kneeled beside her boyfriend. "Lincoln, it's me." Octavia said with tears in her eyes and he nodded at her.

"How did you do that?" Nyko asked her in shock and she smiled at him. "I'll tell you later. O, we need to move him back to camp but we also need to bring him to see the Commander on our way there." Clarke said and the girl nodded. "Lincoln, we are going to keep you restrained while the drug completely leaves your system, okay?" Clarke said to him and he nodded. It would be safer that way, even he didn't trust himself fully even if he could think more clearly now than he did before.

Once he was once again checked over, it was time to go. "Boys, come and help me with these chains and help me get him on his feet." Clarke said as they moved and started unchaining most of the security measures they took and then pulled him up and chained his hands and once they were on the ground floor, they chained them behind the grounder's back. "Okay. Let's go." Clarke said and everyone started walking away from the drop ship.


	72. A small moment

A small moment

The walk from the drop ship had been done in quiet small talks, Jake and Kane were talking about a few improvements to be done in camp once they were no longer in danger of war with the grounders. Octavia, Bellamy and Lincoln were talking about how they knocked him out and were also encouraging him to focus on his recovery and to try not to feel ashamed for what happened to him. It hadn't been his fault and he wasn't in control of what he did, it was all on the drugs and the monsters in Mount Weather.

Murphy and Raven were talking about the meeting of the Council and how Clarke put Jaha in his place, Raven telling the boy she would had given anything to see that and the man's face and they also talked lowly about the meeting she had with the Commander and Clarke swears she could hear a teasing tone to their conversation when it was about her and her girlfriend was the weapon they used against her meanwhile her mom was talking with Nyko explaining to him how you can try to get someone's heart beating again if it has stopped.

She ended up participating in every single one of the conversations. With her father and Kane, she gave them a few ideas she remembered seeing in Arkadia once she went back to it after her self-exile and Polis fiasco as Praimfaya neared them and Kane picked up on what she was talking about and nodded, he had been responsible for some of them so he knew exactly what to do. With Lincoln, she gave him a pep talk as well much like she did for Jasper and told him that he needed to take some time to forgive himself for everything he did and she said to him what she said to Finn, that he was savable and a survivor. He thanked her and so did Octavia.

With Murphy and Raven, she simply ignored their teasing and got them to shut up about that particular subject since she didn't want to alert anyone about her relationship with the Commander or rather what kind of relationship they had. She would like to keep her feelings for Lexa as unnoticeable as possible for as long as necessary. Not forever, though. And possibly very soon, she could finally reveal the true nature of what goes between them, not all of it, but they will know soon that she is dating the Commander. With Nyko and her mother, Clarke joined in last and spoke about medical things.

It didn't take them too long to come near the grounder camp. Clarke turned to everyone. "Okay. We split up here. Dad, Mom, Raven, Kane and Bellamy. All of you go back to camp. The rest comes with me to see the Commander." Clarke said and Bellamy protested. "I won't leave my sister alone." He said and Clarke sighed. "She is not alone, she is with me and I promise you, nothing will happen to her. It will be quick, I just need for the Commander to see him and then they will return and I will stay to finalize the terms of the truce." Clarke explained and Octavia spoke with him and finally, Bellamy relented and accepted.

Clarke, Murphy, Nyko, Octavia and Lincoln climbed the hill with the gaze of the warriors falling on them as they walked up to the Commander's tent and Gustus announced them, getting a permission to go inside and so did the group and Clarke's heart beat fast again as she saw the woman once again accompanied by her generals. "Clarke of the Sky People." Lexa said in her Commander's voice as she exchanged a look with Murphy that let him know tht she remembered him and looked back at Clarke. "Commander, you asked for proof of what I said, here it is. Lincoln was the reaper my friends captured earlier. We spent the morning and part of the afternoon, helping him recover. Nyko can confirm it." She said as Lincoln stepped forward and bowed his head.

" _Is it true what she says Nyko_?" Lexa asked impassively and the man nodded. " _Yes, it is, Commander. I saw him with my own eyes, he was a reaper and his heart stopped beating two times and she brought him back to life."_ He said as the generals seemed shocked. _"That is not possible."_ Indra said and he shook his head. _"I thought so too and I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes as it happened right in front of me. She pumped his chest and breathed air into him and he woke up."_ He said and as Clarke understood trigedasleng perfectly, she almost smiled at the awe in his voice as he said the last part but she knew it would look suspicious so she kept a hopeful look.

"Well it seems you have impressed our healer with your abilities and I trust his word and from what I can see, Lincoln was a reaper as you claimed and now it's cured so as I promised you have your truce." Lexa said and Clarke smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Commander. Thank you very much." She said and Lexa gave her a small nod. "Now we must discuss the terms of this truce." She said and Clarke nodded looking at her friends. "You can go now. Tell my parents I will be with them as soon as I can." She said and they nodded excusing themselves and leaving.

" _Indra, Anya, Nyko, you may go. Clarke and I have much to discuss regarding our truce with the Sky People. I don't want interruptions or intrusions in this tent from no one unless it's an emergency you can't deal with and you have my permission. No exceptions."_ Lexa ordered her warriors out and they nodded leaving the tent as both girls finally relaxed their postures and Clarke walked up to Lexa and simply sat down on her legs as the older girl wrapped an arm around her to keep her safe from falling.

"It's so hard pretending that I don't love you like crazy, that I don't even know you." Clarke said sighing and the woman smiled at her and she looked even more beautiful smiling in Clarke's opinion. Lexa didn't say anything, instead choosing to raise her hand and caress the blonde's face, avoiding the bruises of course, trying not to hurt her. Clarke could only close her eyes and enjoy the soft feel of Lexa's fingers making their way along her face, caressing her with the gentlest of touch, Clarke sighed deeply but this time, she was glad to say it was out of content from being with the brunette. Out of happiness.

"It is a very hard thing to do, I agree but it is a sacrifice we must make to complete your mission. You are doing very well so far, from what I could gather and we still have a long battle ahead of us so we must make the best of this chance as we possibly can." Lexa said to her and Clarke smiled as she leaned forward and connected their lips together while being mindful of Lexa's war paint as to not get smudged as it would be quite tricky to explain that. The kiss was different than the one they had before, that one was rushed, had been waiting a year to happen as they had waited for each other that long.

This one was calming and sweet, filled with love and longing, with the affection they felt for each other, contained for so long and as Clarke pulled back, she just looked at the girl she loved. "Would it scare you if I said I want to spend the rest of my life with you?" Clarke asked her and Lexa smiled. "It would scare me tremendously if you didn't want that because I have wanted you to be by my side for the rest of my life ever since the moment we first kissed." Lexa said and Clarke smiled at her.

"Really?" she asked her and Lexa nodded as she played with the blonde's hand, Clarke's heart felt like it was breaking out from her chest with the emotions those words brought out within her, if she hadn't been completely in love with Lexa already, she sure as hell was now. "Yes and that is one of the reasons why it hurt me when you said what you did after our kiss. I thought you didn't like me at all like that and that I had crossed a line I shouldn't have and offended you." Lexa said and Clarke used her hand to make the brunette look at her.

"I didn't say what I said because I didn't like you, Lex. It was the opposite actually. I said that because the kiss made me realize that I liked you, way too much for the small amount of time in which we go to know each other and also because I wasn't sure how to deal with my feelings about everything that was happening around me at the time. Finn's death, Mount Weather, the bomb, you, I was just an emotional mess." Clarke explained and Lexa nodded. "I know and later I realized how selfish I was being not thinking about that before confessing my feelings to you." She said and Clarke shook her head.

"I'm glad you did, it helped me deal with mine, at least put a name into it. And now all I can think of is that I do want to spend my life with you, more than anything. I want to have it all with you. Everything. Marriage, children, all of it. " Clarke said and Lexa looked at her with so much love in her eyes that took her breath away. Lexa was a very closed person in regards to her feelings, with very high walls around her heart and you would need to search hard for those feelings to find them behind all of the protection she put around it but when she lets them shine through, unguarded and openly vulnerable like she was doing right now letting Clarke see how much the grounder loves her, it takes her breath away.

"I love you so much." Lexa said to her with so much sincerity in her voice that if for nothing else, this made the blonde believe it and Clarke smiled at that. "I know and I love you just as much." She said hoping Lexa could feel the same from her and they kissed for quite a while, just completely lost in each other until they pulled back panting. "I missed you. Your eyes, your hair, your touch, your voice, your body. I missed touching your skin. I missed feeling your heart beat against mine. I missed waking you with in my arms. I missed hearing you say those words. I missed you so much." Lexa said passionately and sweet at the same time and Clarke smiled lovingly at her.

"If you missed me like that without even remembering me, then imagine what I felt this last year? How hard it was remembering all those things about you, about us? How being away from you for so long was absolute torture for me?" Clarke said and Lexa smiled before cupping her face. "We will not be apart again. I won't let you go, ever. I promise." Lexa said firmly and Clarke felt her heart race. "You know when you came yesterday, I was so desperate to be with you, that I almost felt like I could feel you." Clarke said and Lexa looked at her surprised.

"Last night, I was finishing my meal when I felt something different, like another presence surrounding me, or more like being inside of me. It was a frightening feeling at first but then I felt calm and didn't feel threatened by it. Did we truly connect with each other like that? I don't think I ever heard of such a thing being possible." Lexa said shocked and Clarke nodded being surprised by it as well. "Me neither but all I know is that I am so happy you are here and that we are like this. Cuddling, kissing, just being with each other." Clarke said.

And as she looked at the brunette, her desire for the Commander widened and she readjusted herself so she was straddling Lexa and started kissing her passionately for a couple of minutes before air made them realize they needed to pull back from the kiss just to catch their breaths. "I want you. Now." Clarke said panting and Lexa smiled seductively. "I want you too, more than you can imagine but we have to wait." Lexa said bringing their foreheads together as Clarke groaned in frustration.

"It's not fair Lexa." Clarke said to her and Lexa smiled. "As much as having my way with you on the throne sounds like a dream, I want our third first time to be more than a quick release. I want make love to you all night long, in a bed without the worry of one my warriors coming in. Besides if we waited a year, we can wait a few more days. I promise you it will be worth it." Lexa said and Clarke sighed before looking at her. "It better be." She said with mischief in her voice. "Are you doubting my prowess as a lover? Haven't I given you enough proof of it?" Lexa said to her and Clarke smirked.

"Well, I seem to have a memory issue on the subject, maybe I will remember when you prove it to me again. If you think you can." Clarke said challenging and Lexa had a smirk on her face. "Don't put ideas in my head, Clarke. I don't think you are going to like it the outcome." Lexa said and Clarke chuckled. " _Quite the opposite, Commander. I think I will like those ideas of yours a little too much, to be honest._ " The blonde said in trigedasleng which she knew drove Lexa crazy as the woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"You're playing with fire, sky girl. I should warn that you might get burned." The grounder said warningly at the blonde, she was trying very hard to resist her own desires and wants since they couldn't afford to be caught in the act and Clarke was not making things easier for her at all by doing this. " _I'm not afraid to get burned as long as it is with you. In this case, I believe I will be looking forward to it. My Commander."_ Clarke whispered in her ear before getting off of her lap standing in front of her.

"As much as I would like to stay, I have to go." Clarke said seriously. "You're an evil woman, Clarke of the Sky People." Lexa said to her sighing and Clarke smiled mischievously looking down at her. "No, I am just extremely attracted to my girlfriend who is denying herself the chance of pleasuring me. There is nothing wrong with a little revenge for such a thing, is there? Blood still must have blood." She said and Lexa shook her head. Clarke would be death of her and Lexa would welcome such a sweet release with open arms.

"Now, changing the subject to a more important question. When will I see you again?" Clarke asked her sweetly. "In two days, we leave for TonDC as we did before although with the happiness of not having any bodies to burn and people to mourn. Thank you for stopping Finn from massacring TonDC." Lexa said and Clarke sighed. "Of course, I would never let him do something like that again, those people didn't deserve to die in the first place. I made sure he didn't get ten miles near it. But still," She said before pouting. "What?" Lexa asked her.

"Two days Lexa? That's too long to be away from you." Clarke sighed again and Lexa smiled at her. Patience had never been Clarke's strongest suit and Lexa understood that the distance and time away from each other had been harder for the blonde than for herself. "Just two more days and then we will be able to share a place and be together in every way you want to." Lexa promised and Clarke smiled. Clarke leaned down and connected their lips before pulling back and stepped down and away from the throne and Lexa.

"Well then I see you in two days. I love you." She said to her and Lexa smiled. "I love you too." She said it back and Clarke walked away from her and out of her tent and Lexa sighed. She really couldn't wait for them to be together again. Clarke had similar thought as she walked back to camp. Two days in comparison to a year is nothing but for Clarke, it would be an eternity but she would endure it and once they were together again, she will show Lexa how much she loves and misses her. She had a smile on her face all the way back to Arkadia.


	73. Preparations

Preparations

As soon as she got into camp, Wells came to hug her and to say that she was being called to a meeting with the Council who wanted to know what was the result of the talks with the grounders immediately and Clarke was most glad to announce that they had a truce and will start working together to get everyone out of Mount Weather. "So we don't have to worry about an attack?" Abby asked her hopeful and Clarke nodded. "Not unless we attack first to which we will not, under any circumstance." Clarke said looking at her mother.

"And what is the next step in this truce you have secured? What do we need to do?" Jaha asked her and she looked at him. "In two days, I will be selecting a group and we will go with the Commander and her generals to one of their villages so that she and I can start planning for the battle against the Mountain Men as soon as possible." Clarke said firmly and Jaha looked at the others before looking at her and she knew exactly what he was going to say next. He was entirely predictable to her now.

"Clarke, we appreciate everything you did for the 100 and now with the Commander, truly, they could not have survived and this truce would have happened if it hadn't been for your hard work and your abilities. We are incredibly grateful. But we discussed and we believe it's best if we, the adults and council members take it from here. I will go with a group and we will settle this with the grounders to get our people back. I promise you that." He said to and the only reaction he got from Clarke was her rolling her eyes at him.

Now that she had Lexa on her side, she knew it was time to stop playing so nice with them. "The Commander had expressed that she will only deal with me. If you want to try it out and play leader with them, feel free. I won't stop you but I will be very satisfied once you are proven wrong. Now, while you people sulk in a corner because you have no power with the grounders whatsoever, I will go and plan what we will need to do to get my people out of that hellhole. Have a nice day." She said to them and turned around leaving the room.

Egotistical bastard was the kindest adjective she thought of when thinking about Jaha. The man has not changed and he wouldn't, which angered her. Could he learn nothing? Simply because she was younger, it didn't mean she was not capable, in fact she had always been better than those council members. Maybe if their leaders had given the youth a chance sooner, the mess created in the first timeline wouldn't have happened at all and if she had accepted what she was and who she was sooner, it could have all been avoided. Not that it mattered now, anyway.

She walked out of the station and stepped outside to get a breath of fresh air and to try and relax a little. She had her girlfriend with her which was the thing she had wanted most for these past year as well as the knowledge on how to defeat the Mountain, it was only a matter of succeeding in their adventure. Clarke was walking past the medical tent they built for her mother when suddenly she heard her name being called and looked to see Charlotte coming to her and she smiled at the little girl.

"Hey, little sis. How are you doing?" Clarke asked her as they hugged. "Good. I have been helping Jackson with the patients since Abby had to go with you wherever she went with you." She said to her smiling excitedly and Clarke nodded. "Where are you sleeping?" She asked the young girl. "With Abby and Jake. There's a room in the quarters they have been given and they let me stay there but you can have it if you want, I will find somewhere else." The girl said and Clarke shook her head. "Of course not. It's yours and yours alone. Besides, between you and me, it's quite nice sharing the room with Raven and not Mom and Dad so you can have it. I'm good where I am." Clarke said and they smiled.

"How was the talk with the Commander?" Charlotte asked her and Clarke sighed. "It's been good. I was able to get us a truce which means they will not attack us." Clarke said and Charlotte nodded. "That's a relief." She said and Clarke nodded. "It is but there is still much to be done so I will be leaving in a couple of days to start the preparations for the war." Clarke said and Charlotte looked at her. "Can I go with you?" she asked and Clarke sighed shaking her head. "No, it will be very dangerous. Once they realize what we are doing, the Mountain Men will retaliate and I want you as far away from danger as possible besides Jackson can't take care of everyone by himself." Clarke said and the girl sighed.

"You think I'm too young to be of any help." Charlotte said and Clarke shook her head. "No, I don't. I am young and I am about to lead a war. That is not why I don't want you to come." Clarke said and Charlotte looked at her. "Why then?" she asked her and Clarke sighed. "Because there will be killing, Charlie. We are going to have to kill people, there is no way around it and I don't want you to have that burden in your conscience for as long as possible. I want your hands clean of blood unless you're helping heal someone. Can you understand that?" she said sincerely and the girl nodded.

"I understand." Charlotte said and nodded at Clarke. "Look, when we win the battle, there will be a lot of injured people and we will need your help so how about you focus on learning more about healing people and leave the killing part of this war to the rest of us, okay?" she said to her and the girl nodded. "Okay. I don't want to kill people either." Charlotte said and Clarke smiled. "That's my little sister." Clarke said and hugged her for a while before they pulled back. "The boys are coming with you, aren't they?" Charlotte asked and Clarke sighed.

"I wish they didn't but with how much I know them, they will want to 'protect' me. As if I can't protect myself and need to be rescued like a damsel in distress." Clarke said sarcastically and Charlotte smiled. "That is because they all care about you in their own way. Wells love you like a brother, Bellamy sees you as his best friend and Finn loves you period." She said and Clarke smiled. "You're right but they are actually not the ones I am worried about. I think Mom and Dad will come too. And Kane and Jaha." She said and Charlotte nodded.

"Of course, they all will. Jaha wants to keep pretending he isn't losing his position and power to you, Kane cares about you so he is going as head security at most and Mom and Dad, sorry, I mean Abby and Jake wants to take care of you like they always did." Charlotte said and Clarke smiled at her little slip. That is exactly what she wanted, for Charlotte to adopt her family as her own. "Hey, you know you can call that Mom and Dad if you want to." Clarke said and the girl shook her head. "I don't think they would want me to besides I don't want to forget my parents." Charlotte said sadly and Clarke smiled.

"First, seeing them as your parents too will never make you forget your own, they will always be in your heart and in your memories and no one can ever replace them but I think you can make a little space for Mom and Dad. And I am sure that Victoria and Adam would be very happy to know you are being cared for by people who love you and will always take care of you. And as far as my parents go, if you want and feel comfortable, just ask them if you can call them Mom and Dad, I'm sure their answer would be yes." Clarke said gently and the girl looked hopeful at her.

"You think so?" she asked her and Clarke nodded as she watched her parents come out of the station. "Why don't you go and ask them right now?" she said pointing at their direction. "You really think my parents wouldn't mind?" Charlotte asked her and Clarke smiled. "With how much they loved you? I think they would be very happy to see their little girl being part of a family that already loves her to death." Clarke said smiling and hugged her before pulling back and ushering her. "Go and give me thumbs up if I am right which I know I am. Go." She said and Charlotte nodded before running to where Abby and Jake were.

Clarke saw the smile on their faces as soon as the girl came to their side and she watched with a smile on her face as Charlotte shyly seemed to ask them. She saw her Mom with a surprised but welcoming face and her Dad with a smile on his face as they nodded and hugged the little girl and when they pulled back, she looked at Clarke as did her parents and gave her thumbs up and Clarke smiled before reattributing the gesture and smiling at them before she noticed Murphy, Wells and Raven calling for her. She gestured to her family that she had to go and they nodded so she made way to the little bar set up where they were and joined them.

"What was that about?" Raven asked her when the blonde sat down with them and Clarke smiled. "Charlotte asked my parents if she could call them Mom and Dad too and they agreed, obviously." She said as a matter of fact and the other three smiled. "Nice to know braids have your parents to take care of her now." Murphy said to her and she nodded. She was extremely happy for that either. It had been her go to get Charlotte close with her parents because of this, she was happy she did the right thing.

"It is. I had hoped it would be this way so she wouldn't feel alone after Adam and Victoria's death." She agreed with him and took a sip of her drink. "How was the meeting with the Council? Did they give you a hard time or an impossible one?" Wells asked her knowing how it must have been and she sighed shaking her head. "Can I be honest?" she asked him and he nodded. "Go right ahead, wise one." He said and she smiled before blurting it out. "Your dad is being an egotistical bastard, Wells. I'm sorry but he is." She said shrugging and he chuckled.

"I imagined he would be and that council of his, which I think is a joke by the way, doesn't help his cause at all so don't worry about offending me, you won't besides I know him well enough so I guess I already expected it. But just go right ahead and tell us, what did my dear father and our esteemed Chancellor do now?" he asked her and she sighed before taking a deep breath. "'I appreciate what you have done Clarke but the adults and I will take it from here'." She said imitating his voice and Murphy scoffed at her.

"I'm sorry but does he really think he and those idiots of the council, excluding Kane, Abby and Jake, have the capacity to deal with the grounders and free our people or is he just being delusional?" Raven said to them and Clarke shook her head. "I thought that seeing everything we did on our own and being here on Earth would help him see that we are not helpless kids. That we can contribute to our people even more so than the Council does but I guess that was asking for too much." Wells said sadly and she nodded.

"He doesn't want to admit that Clarke is becoming more of a leader to our people than he could ever be and that is scaring the shit out of him. The idea of losing his power to an 18 year old girl." Murphy said to them and they all nodded knowing he was right. "But he will have to deal with it because I will not back down just because he feels threatened. I will do what I have to do to get our friends and the grounders out of that place. If he loses his power to me in the process, well, it is what it is. I never wanted to be leader, I never wanted to make the tough decisions but it seems that it was meant for me so I will do it and will do the best I can. They will need to accept it." Clarke said firmly.

"They will never accept it unless you take that power from them. I don't think my Dad would like losing his position to another Council member much less to you who he thinks is still a child that knows no better. He will not surrender that pin so easily, not without a good reason." Wells said to her and she nodded, remembering that last time when Jaha returned her mother had to imprison him. "He may be the Chancellor but I'm in charge of our people and as long as he doesn't get in my way, he can think whatever he wants, I don't care. All I care about right now is Mount Weather." Clarke said firmly and the two nodded however Murphy shook his head.

"Yeah, sorry to burst the bubble, but thing is, blondie, Jaha and the Council, they don't share that mindset of yours. At least it doesn't seem like it's their priority. It seems like they only care because you are taking the initiative. Were you to cross your arms and do nothing, neither will they. Why would they do anything for a bunch of problematic teenagers that aren't too happy following the law? The fathers and mothers of those kids will realize that and look to you and not them for help and once they lose the support of the adults, you can bet they will come, guns blazing on us for it. You might have to be prepared to fight two wars at once." He said and deep down, the other three knew he was right.

"There is nothing to do for now in regards to that. Clarke can't simply call for an election now, it would divided the people and we would lose too much time trying to figure that one out meanwhile our friends inside Mount Weather instead of getting pieces of chocolate cake, gets their bone marrow drilled out of their bodies, possibly without having a choice. My father knows this, which is why he may challenge Clarke in the privacy of the council meeting but I don't think he would do so publically. He knows he would lose. What I think he is doing is giving her rope so she can hang herself." Wells said and Clarke looked at him.

"I agree with Wells and with Murphy. It's true that the council and Jaha will take it badly once the war is over and people still see Clarke as our leader. They will not like it at all and they may try to use violence to deter us, but" Raven said before continuing, "Wells is right. Jaha will not risk, say an open rebellion where the odds would be against him. He will wait or try to get Clarke to make a mistake so bad he would the people's complete trust again which is why this war with Mount Weather is so important. If we get our friends back, we get the people on our side. If we don't, he will have them." Raven explained.

"In the matters of Jaha, I know he is doing that, he is letting me lead because one, I will not be pushed over and two because the people seem to trust me but he is mistaken if he thinks he can outsmart me by using that strategy, I am two step ahead of him and I have the advantage of knowing him better than he knows me so believe me, I have him and the other council members exactly where I want them. And as for Mount Weather, we don't not have the option of failing, not only for that reason but because it's Jasper's, Monty's, Miller's, Jessica's, Harper's and the others' lives that are at stake if we do. We have to prevail, we don't have another choice." She said and her friends nodded, dropping the Jaha topic. They trusted her.

"Speaking of Mount Weather and our friends, what is the plan of action about that, oh fierce powerful leader of mine? Anything in that brilliant blonde haired head of yours to help save our friends' asses from bone marrow sucking monsters?" Raven asked her jokingly. "Well, I spoke with the Commander and she said that in two days, we will be going to one of her villages to start planning for the war. I will get to choose my attendants and of course the three of you are coming with me." Clarke explained to them and they nodded expecting it.

"Who else is coming with us?" Murphy asked her. "Bellamy, Octavia and Lincoln. With Finn, I think that even if I say no, he will come anyway so better we keep an eye on him. My Mom and Dad will probably want to come as well. Jaha will come just so he can try to overthrow my position of power with the grounders which he will fail miserably. And Kane. That pretty much covers our delegation." Clarke said and they nodded. "Do you think this is going to work?" Wells asked her and she sighed. "For our friends' sake, I hope it does." Clarke said to him and she really meant it.


	74. Trip to TonDC 20

Warm welcome 2.0

The wait for the two days before the trip to TonDC to pass were the longest and the shortest one for Clarke, who spent them away by counting down the seconds until she could be with Lexa again and also by working with Raven to jam Mount Weather's signal much like the mechanic had done the day they have found Lincoln in the other timeline and working with her mom in medical, helping her with other patients and overseeing Lincoln's recovery from the drug and from the withdrawal, making sure he stayed alive.

He was much better and there was no reason for him to be restrained anymore so he was free to walk around camp, always with Octavia by his side to make sure no one else tried anything with him because he was a grounder and sometimes even Bellamy would join them seeming to getting better acquainted with his little sister's older boyfriend and when she looked at the three of them, she just hoped she could avoid Lincoln's death and the drift between the siblings and that they could keep their small family dynamic intact.

With Raven, given her previous knowledge of the Mountain and the ways to work around them, she was able to get a line of communication with the Mountain again much faster than last time since she already knew the frequency. Of course, they had to pass of the accomplishment by giving the reason Raven being a mechanic genius who got quite lucky and oddly enough, it worked. They didn't question much how she was able to do it so quickly and so far away from the Mountain except her Dad but Raven said she had the story covered and she did because whatever lies she told Jake, he believed in them so their secret mission continued to be safe for the moment.

Clarke had been quite busy making plans in her head about what could be done differently and what would end up being the same as before moving forward from this point in time as well as taking care of everyone and slowly taking over the power and leader position from Jaha and the Council with the other citizens, even the eldest ones which would come in handy when she got Kane elected Chancellor. She didn't have time to have a talk with Finn yet, because of everything that was going on and everything she was doing but she promised that as soon as she had a chance to do it, she would sit him down and talk with him sincerely.

In the meantime, she was already prepared and excitedly greedy to go to the grounder camp and was outside waiting for the others to join them along with Murphy and Raven who were already by her side, as usual. The first two to show up where her parents and as she predicted, they both wanted to come with her. "Hey, sweetie. Where is everyone else?" Abby asked her as Clarke hugged then both. "They should be getting here any minute. Are you sure you guys want to come?" she asked them already knowing their answer. There was no way they would not come and let her go by herself.

"Of course, we are. You need us and we will be there for you." Abby said to her as Clarke expected. "Besides we want to meet this Commander and her people in a better environment than the 'I want to kill you' one." Her father said joking and she smiled. "I'm sure we are in for an adventure." She said to him and he smiled. "Do you think it will be safe?" Abby asked her and Clarke nodded. "The Commander guaranteed that as long as we don't draw first blood, that we won't have anything to worry about. She will protect us and keep us safe." Clarke said to them and they looked at each other before looking back at her.

"And we can trust her to keep her people in check if they come for us or try to do something against our people?" Jake asked her suspiciously and worried for the group's safety while going to their new allies' territory and she nodded at him. "We can. They respect her and will follow her orders or they will get severely punished for it besides we will need her army to fight against the Mountain Men. We need to put in the effort to make this work as well as them. We have to meet them halfway or it will all be for nothing." She said to them and they nodded.

"I don't know, sweetie. Seems like we are going in blind to this meeting, it could be a trap." Abby said and Clarke was about to answer when the others, Wells, Jaha, Kane, Finn, Bellamy, Octavia and Lincoln joined them just in time to hear what Abby said and the boys, save for Murphy agreed with her. "I think Abby is right. This is definitely a trap." Bellamy said to her and Finn nodded. "Who knows what will happen once we are in her village without a way of getting help. They could kill us, Clarke. And then come back here and slaughter our people." Finn said worried and she sighed.

"Then, stay Finn. No one is forcing you to come. You too, Bell." She snapped at them and Raven and Murphy shook their heads. Finn should just learn to stay quiet and Bellamy really needed to learn to follow Clarke. "Look, I mean it. If you're so worried about that, then stay. My parents, Raven, Murphy, Wells, Kane and Jaha are enough." She said looking at the boys. "Of course, I'm not staying. If you're going so am I." Finn said and she shook her head just as Kane and Jaha joined them. "Then, trust that I know what I am doing." She said sighing and taking a deep breath before addressing everyone on the little party.

"Look, I am going to say this once and only once so pay attention. All of you. I don't want to hear of any of you making trouble with the grounders. I mean it. This is important, our friends' lives depend on this and I won't let any one of you jeopardize the alliance. If there is a problem, if you are disrespected, anything, come to me and I will talk with the Commander and together we will sort it out but I don't want any of you taking actions against them on your own, that will only help the Mountain Men,"

"Also try to remember that I am in charge of this group so if I tell you to do something , you do exactly what I say as I say it, that way we can avoid trouble and can guarantee to leave a better impression on them than the one they have of us so far so everyone here is warned. Do not test me, it will not end well for you. Now, let's go, they are probably waiting for us already." She said firmly and walked away as Raven, Murphy and Kane smirked at the awed expression on some of the others' faces.

Raven and Murphy quickly followed her with Bellamy, Finn, Wells, Octavia and Lincoln behind them and the adults on the very back. "She is a natural leader." Kane commented out loud as they started walking and Jake nodded. "Always has been. I kind of knew that this would happen and so did Abby." Jake said to him and the woman nodded. "But she will soon need to remember that we are the authorities here and that they have to follow us, not the other way around." Jaha said and Kane sighed. He could be a problem.

With Clarke, she was trying to calm herself down from the excitement and the anxiousness she was feeling about the whole ordeal. "Hey relax, it's going to be fine." Murphy said as he and Raven started walking beside her as they passed the gates and Clarke sighed. "It will be hard enough having Finn and Bellamy near her, I don't need their xenophobic views of the grounders to give her more reason to hate them and her people to hate us." Clarke said to him and they nodded. "Don't worry. Murphy and I got a babysitting duty system going on. I take Finn, he takes Bellamy and Kane is in charge of Jaha." Raven said to her and Clarke chuckled.

"You're serious?" she asked them and Raven nodded, "Actually, yes. These three and Pike are the epitome of the grounders' hate of us. If we can keep them in check then we can be fine until Pike comes along and tries to kill everyone again. We need to be ready to avoid them making a disaster happen in this meeting. From what Raven told me of this, it got pretty bad last time, didn't it? So like you said we need to make sure we leave that place less disliked then when we enter it or else we are done for." Murphy said lowly for her to hear only and Raven nodded knowing he was right.

"But there are also people on Lexa's side of the spectrum that she needs to keep in check too, people that screwed the situation just as badly as we did. Gustus, Nia and Titus, for once." The mechanic said and Clarke nodded. "Lexa knows and although we didn't talk about that two days ago when we met, I trust she won't want to lose Gustus again so at least with him, she will stop immediately but Nia, Titus, I don't know. I have no idea what she will do to them but I know what I want to do to those two." Clarke said just as they came to the grounders camp.

She stopped and so did Raven and Murphy as they turned around and waited for the others to approach and once they did, she spoke again. "Remember what I said, any problem come to me first and I will deal with it and for the love of God, do not disrespect them at all." She said to them before a guard came to escort them to where the Commander was and Clarke could hear her mother say. "She is a child. They are being led by a child." She sighed just before Kane replied. "So are we and we couldn't be more lucky. Have faith in them, Abby." He said and she smiled just as she locked eyes with Lexa.

All she wanted to do was go up to her and kiss and hug her not caring about who the hell saw it but she knew she couldn't do that so she resisted. Instead of doing everything she was thinking about, all she did was give the Commander a nod. "Thank you for allowing us to join you, Commander. I would like to introduce you to a few of my people before we move forward." She said politely and the Commander nodded right back at her knowing exactly what was going on in Clarke's head as it was the same as hers.

"This is Raven Reyes. She is my mechanic genius, my best friend as well as my second in command. She has saved our life many times. We owe her a lot." Clarke said making sure to give her the credit she deserved and the girl gave a small smile to her and a small and polite nod to Lexa to avoid anyone thinking she already knew the older girl. "Nice to meet you, Commander." Raven said and Lexa nodded back at her. "It's nice to meet you too, Raven of the Sky People." She said politely.

"These are Murphy and Wells, my best friends and self-designated bodyguards. Murphy is also my third in command." Clarke said and they waved and nodded at the Commander. "These are Finn and Bellamy, my friends." She said noticing how Lexa tensed when she turned to look at the two of them but nothing showed on her face which is why only Clarke could see it, after all, she was always able to read Lexa like an open book. "Octavia and Lincoln." She introduced. "These are my parents, Jake and Abby." She pointed at them and saw Lexa get a little shocked, possibly because she had never met her Dad and also because she was meeting them both at the same time.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both of you." Lexa said way too politely and Clarke almost smiled but held herself back. "The pleasure is all ours, Commander." Jake said nodding at her and so did Abby. "This is Kane, our head of security and this is Jaha, our Chancellor." She finished introducing the party. "I thank you for the truce and for the invitation, Commander." Jaha said and Clarke just wanted to shut him up. "Clarke of the Sky People earned it for you so thank her, not me." Lexa said firmly as she disliked the man very much.

"We will be leaving immediately. Clarke, you will be riding beside me. If we are to show my people that we are working together, that will be a good way to start. What say you?" Lexa asked her and Clarke smiled. "I've never ridden a horse before but it would be my pleasure, Commander. Thank you for the kind offer." Clarke said and Lexa gave a small smile. "Very well. Nyko, show the sky people their place and Clarke, her horse." She said and the man nodded before turning to them. "Follow me." He said to them and started walking away as the sky people followed him and so did Clarke.

"Heda…" Gustus started but she turned to him, Indra and Anya who were with her. " _I understand that you have concerns about them, Gustus but I ask that you trust me and I demand you obey me. I don't want anyone of you having any ideas to try and undo the alliance with the Sky People. They are the only chance we have at getting our people back and destroying the Mountain Men once and for all, and if any of you do something, you will not like the punishment._ " She said in her scary Commander voice.

" _And what is the punishment, Heda?"_ Anya asked and Lexa steeled her gaze. " _You will be stripped from your rank, will be expelled from my army and from ever being a warrior again and will be banished to the dead zone, after and if you survive a thousand cuts_." She said firmly. " _So I order you to not disrupt this because I will not allow it. If you think that by doing something to break this alliance, you will be protecting me or something like that, forget it. No one is to do anything. That is a direct order from your Commander. Are we clear? Gustus, are we clear?"_ she said looking at him who nodded at her and she sighed.

" _You three are the ones I trust the most. You raised me since I was little, taught me everything I know and are the family I never had. I trust you three with my life in a heartbeat. So I don't want to lose anyone, especially not because of this. Do you understand me?"_ She took a more soft approach and they nodded. "Good, then let's go." She said and moved away as the women followed her and Gustus grabbed the vial he had in his inside pocket and looked at it and at her retreating back and made a decision before following after his Commander.

Clarke was by her horse with Nyko explaining to her what she needed to do as the others watched and listened to it when suddenly Lexa approached and tapped him on the shoulder, he bowed to her before leaving and she took his place. "It's not that hard. Put your foot in here and pull yourself up." Lexa said as she looked at Clarke with a blank look on her face as the blonde put her foot and she knew she couldn't get it right the first time, after all, she had never ridden a horse before, at least to her people so she failed to pull herself up.

And then she felt two hands grab her waist and a body stand behind her and she shivered from head to toe at the electricity that shot through her own body from that touch. "Try again. I will help you." Lexa said by her ear and Clarke's legs almost gave up but she recovered and tried again as Lexa helped her up and she was able to sit on her horse before she looked down at the Commander and saw the small smirk she had. "Good, for a sky girl." She said before she walked back to her own white horse, climbing it with ease and elegance as she looked at Clarke and then at everyone else and started her horse and did everyone else and as did Clarke and soon they found themselves on the road to TonDC.


	75. Meeting halfway

Meeting half way

They had been walking and riding for about an hour when Clarke had the courage to start a conversation with the Commander, being mindful that she couldn't let any previous knowledge escape through the talk so she played it safe and kept it PG 13, in case people listened to it. "Are you and Lincoln from the same village?" she asked her and Lexa looked at her and with that one look, understood what she was doing and turned back front. "No, Lincoln is from TonDC. My home village is further away from here." Lexa answered in a diplomatic way.

"Why do you ask?" She said asking Clarke understanding the blonde without words being spoken out loud, as it was usual. It had always been that way between them, Clarke could read her feelings as easily as Lexa could read her thoughts. "Well, all the grounders I met or talked with come from there so I took a guess." She said and it was a cue that Lexa took. "I understand but not all of us come from the same place. There are 12 clans of us, each clan different from the other. Anya, Indra, Gustus and the other you have spoken with come from the same clan but not all from the same village." Lexa explained.

They had Gustus, Anya and Indra behind them and the Sky people in front of them and since there was silence, it was possible for her people to hear what they were talking about so she imagined Lexa was also playing it safe and understood what she was trying to do. "How is it to fall from the Sky?" Lexa asked her and Clarke chuckled. "Really scary. We were pretty sure we were going to die from the landing, then we thought we were going to die by radiation of the Earth." She said to her and Lexa looked at her as she continued, "But as our lucky didn't seem to run out, we survived both." She finished her answer.

"And you survived many encounters with my people as well." Lexa said to her and Clarke nodded. "I did what I had to do to protect my people as I assume you would as well." She said and Lexa nodded. "But I took no pleasure in it. In fact, I had hoped to avoid those battles altogether, which is why I agreed to a meeting with Anya to try and make peace with your people before it would come to that." Clarke explained.

"But your people attacked Anya during that meeting by the bridge and then exploded same bridge with her warriors in it." Gustus said and Clarke looked back at him. "Anya sent one of our own she had captured with a virus to weaken us, you can't blame us for trying to delay the attack until the virus was gone. As for the bridge, we didn't expect people to be there at the time of the explosion. It was a bad outcome but I'm sorry, we had no other choice. As for the meeting, the attack was not on my orders." She said to the man before looking back at the Commander. "The boy who started shooting at Anya and her warriors that day, he has a trauma with your people." Clarke said.

"What do you mean?" Lexa asked her truly curious about this story and Clarke sighed. "When we first came here, as I told Anya, we had a wrong idea that we were the only survivors. The last of human kind. Arrogant and self-centered, I know but we had no idea that other people survived the nuclear war so when me and my friends came here, after 97 years and three generations living in space, all we cared about was enjoying being on Earth. Playing in the dirty ground, running in the forest, being soaked wet in the rain." Clarke explained as she looked at Lexa's generals and saw that they were paying attention to her.

"It was clear that we needed to find water, food to survive and our people had information from before the nuclear wars that Mount Weather was full of supplies but we had no idea that there were people there, we were even counting with the fact that the food was already beyond eatable but still, we went to check it out and when we came to the river, I imagine one of your people was there watching us and when my friend Jasper crossed the river and found a Mount Weather sign, he was speared in the chest and that was our first contact with your people. The first time we knew we were not alone." Clarke continued.

"When we were running, we heard his scream which meant he was alive but when we went back he was not there anymore, so we went back to camp and grabbed some supplies we had and went looking for him. We found him tied to a tree as live bait we guessed, we got him out and back to our camp but after going through all of that, he got a trauma. He couldn't step outside the camp in fear of your people so I was helping him trying to overcome that little by little, slowly, when he was ready,"

"But when it got to the meeting with Anya, a few of my friends got worried about my safety so they followed me there with guns, Jasper included and when he saw your people on the trees with weapons aimed at me even if they weren't attacking, he thought they were going to kill me and that threat mixed with his own fears, made him start shooting but he was stopped, only that it was too late and your people started shooting arrows and spears too." Clarke explained. "Where is this Jasper now?" Indra asked her.

"He is inside the Mountain." Clarke said to her. "I am sorry." Lexa said to her and Clarke shook her head. "I am sorry too. My people are being treated nicely for now while yours have always been treated like animals. Like blood bags and that is just wrong in so many ways, though I can understand why they do it." Clarke said shrugging. "You agree with what they do to us?" Gustus asked her angrily and she shook her head. "No, never in a million years, no way. What they do to your people is inhuman, cruel and disgusting." Clarke said firmly. "Then why do you say you understand them?" Anya asked her intrigued.

"Because as leaders, sometimes you are forced to make horrible decisions for the greater good of your people even if you don't agree with it, even if it tears you inside. For an example, killing three hundred of your warriors was something I never wanted to do and something that most of your people hate me for it because their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters were one of the many people I killed. But when it came the moment to choose between doing something I didn't want to or letting my friends die, as a leader, I made the choice to protect my people and I guess you all understood that in some way too, didn't you?" she said and they nodded including Lexa.

"Exactly so I think that their leader, President Dante, is faced with a similar situation. He is faced with a choice, to do what they do to your people and have a chance at a life out here or let his people stay confined inside the Mountain forever and as a leader, he is choosing his people. As a leader, I can understand the need to do what is best for your people but as a human being, I can't understand at all. There are some lines we just can't cross and what they do to your people is one of those lines. " Clarke said to them and Lexa nodded at her. "I guess that from that point of view, his actions are understandable though completely wrong and disgusting, as you said." Lexa said agreeing with her.

"From what I got to know of him, I know he doesn't like it what he does either, he does because he doesn't think there is another way and like he said to me, as leaders, we bear it so our people don't have to. That is something I understand perfectly and I guess so do you." Clarke said and looked at the generals who started talking in trigedasleng before looking at Lexa who smirked at her. " _It seems that the Sky Girl is not as stupid as we thought she was."_ Indra said to them and Clarke almost scoffed but kept her expression the same. " _She is different than the others, she understands things better and really seems to want us to work together."_ Anya said and Clarke almost smiled.

" _I still don't trust her or her people but I guess we can trust the Commander and give them a chance."_ Gustus said and Clarke chuckled without thinking and they all looked at her and she looked at them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just thinking about the meaning of your names. I'm sorry." She said before looking ahead. "Meaning of our names, what do you mean?" Lexa asked her curious as the others looked at Clarke as well. "Names usually have meanings. I read that before the nuclear war and all, some parents usually looked it up and would choose their baby's name based on the meaning they liked most." Clarke explained.

"Was that how it was with you?" Anya asked her and Clarke smiled shaking her head. "No, I was named after a writer, Arthur C. Clarke. He wrote my Dad's favorite book, 2001: A space odyssey, but my name's meaning is scholar, who is someone with profound knowledge or it can also be a pupil, a student." Clarke said to them. "What are our names' meanings then? Tell us if you know." Lexa asked and Clarke nodded. "Is your name just Lexa?" Clarke asked her and the Commander shook her head.

"It's Alexandria." She said and Clarke nodded, she already knew the piece of information and particularly, she thought that her name was beautiful and fit the commander perfectly so while on the Valley looked up the history of the name and it seemed it would come in handy now. "Your name means defender of mankind." Clarke said and Lexa smiled. "Fitting." Indra said and the others chuckled. "But there are other references, do you want to know them?" Clarke asked and Lexa nodded. "Please tell us." Anya said in a teasing tone.

"It was the name of the biggest and most important library in the history of humanity, The Royal Library of Alexandria. It was said to hold the most precious documents, estimated in between 40 thousand and 400 thousand scrolls. It was dedicated to host the world's knowledge and was also dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts. The library was built in the city of Alexandria in Egypt which brings us to the other reference. The city was built and named after Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander, the Great. He created the largest empire of the ancient world before he was thirty years old." Clarke said as they listened attentively.

"Sadly, when the Greeks went to conquer Egypt, they burnt the library or at least a big part of it. The wise men of the time and the ones who came after had the opinion that the loss of the library was a loss for mankind." She finished the story. "Like she needed any more reasons to be so conceited. It's bad as it is." Anya said and they all chuckled. "I am not conceited but I do like the story of my name. Thank you for telling me, Clarke." Lexa said and Clarke shook her head. "You're welcome. Now, choose someone else." She said smiling. "Anya." Lexa chose.

"Anya means mother." Clarke said smiling as the grounders started laughing silently but still, it was a rare sight. "Very funny. What about Indra?" The general quickly shifted the attention away from her and Clarke looked at the woman in question. "I'm sorry but it means possessing drops of rain." She said smiling and the laughs continued as they continued to talk about names and the Sky People all heard as Clarke talked with them and made them laugh and Raven chuckled as well though not drawing their attention.

"I didn't think I would live to see this, grounders laughing but I guess we really shouldn't doubt Clarke's abilities." Raven said to the group and shook her head. "That's Clarke, what can't she do?" Murphy said smirking. "Is just me or did anyone else noticed the tension between Clarke and the Commander when she went to help her get on the horse?" Octavia asked them and Murphy chuckled. "Sex tension? Yeah, I saw it." He said and Raven elbowed him as Finn turned to look at him with a frown on his face. "What? It's not like Clarke is taken." Murphy said.

"Is the Commander with someone?" Octavia asked Lincoln and he shook his head. "Well, then they are both free to take this truce and make it personal. Bedroom personal, if you know what I mean." Murphy said chuckling and Raven elbowed him harder. "Are you taking about my daughter and the Commander?" Jake asked them and Murphy looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, what do you think about them together?" Murphy asked and the man looked at Abby and smiled at her before he looked at the kids. "If that is what Clarke wants and it's what makes her happy, why not?" he said and Abby nodded before turning back to the adult talk.

"Yea, it seems the Commander has barely met them and already has the in-laws on her side. Bummer, huh Finn? Already lost their support, just like that. Should take the hint dude." Murphy said to Finn. "Murphy, stop. That's enough. If it happens or not, that is between the two of them and the only thing we can do is support Clarke in whatever her decision is and frankly, we have more important things to worry about than this, at least for now." Raven said stopping him who raised his hands in surrender.

"Once the war against the Mountain is over, they are defeated and we have our friends back, and Clarke and the Commander do get together, I call shotgun in teasing them but before that, let's forget about it and focus on what we need to focus on which is help Clarke get all of our people out of that hell place. Everyone got it?" Raven said loud enough for their friends to hear and they all nodded. "Thank you." Bellamy whispered in her ear and she chuckled. "Kids, what did you expect?" she said as they continued the rest of the walk in silence.


	76. Real warm welcome

Real warm welcome

After another couple of hours waking through the woods, they were finally arriving at TonDC which made Clarke feel weird especially because of what Finn did to this people and what she let happen to this place, as well as what it happened the last time they made this trip and why they made it in the first place. Last time, it took them more than a day to get there but this time, the trip was made much faster since they didn't have to do all the preparations they did before to carry a body.

Finn's body, which was brought here to be burnt along with the bodies of the people he had murdered trying to find her. It was weird thinking that he massacred innocent people in this very place. She could still remembering being in the woods and hearing the gun go off as she took on a run along with Bellamy and Octavia and the sight she was faced with was one she never expected the sweet and peacemaker boy to be the cause of it. She hadn't wanted to admit but for a moment, she had been afraid of him.

And it was ever weirder remembering that she let a bomb drop on them, a bomb that killed 250 of the villagers, a bomb she and Lexa knew about and did nothing, could do nothing to stop it without jeopardizing the whole endeavor against the Mountain, which cost her a lot including her mother's view on her and her friendship with the younger Blake who never recovered from it. And now, they both were here without having done any of those things, in her case, at least not yet. She didn't plan on letting it happen again but still, the guilt of the pain she caused directly or indirectly came right back at her and Lexa noticed it straight away.

"Are you okay?" She asked noticing the change in the blonde's behavior who looked at her and at Gustus, Anya and Indra. They spent the majority of the time talking along with the generals behind them and Clarke was sure that the concept they had of her had changed during this trip for the better since they weren't treating her as much of an idiot as they had before and she couldn't be happier. If it really was like that, then she could have three more people who would support her relationship with Lexa and that could make a huge difference when the time comes for that to be known and she really hoped she had won them over, at least a little.

"Yeah, I am. Just a lot in my mind with the Mountain and all." Clarke said and the Commander nodded, understanding that whatever was going on with Clarke, it had to do with the past and she had a pretty good and very accurate idea on what it was clouding her girlfriend's mind and knew that they couldn't exactly talk about it in front of everyone so she stayed quiet as they finally came to a stop in front of the gates of the village. Lexa got down from her horse and moved to help Clarke get down from hers which brought them a little too close for some Sky People's liking who watched the scene.

"Thank you." Clarke said as Lexa gather the self-restraint to pull back and nodded before walking towards her own people and asking Anya over and whispering in her ear something to which the woman nodded and moved to help Gustus. "Weapons." The man said and Lincoln was the first one to give up his knife. "We need to disarm before we enter." He said before going back to Octavia's side. Bellamy looked distrusting but he gave his rifle anyway, soon everyone did the same and Anya went to check on Raven and Clarke had a small smile as she noticed Lexa watching both of her generals attentively to see if Gustus will be stupid and do the same thing.

"What did you say to Anya?" Clarke whispered to Lexa. "I asked her to keep an eye on Gustus and to check Raven. I had words with him and the others but I am not sure if he wouldn't still disobey me, better to be prepared." Lexa whispered back and Clarke nodded her head. "What saddened you just now?" Lexa asked so only she could hear and Clarke sighed. "I will tell you later when we are alone. It's not a conversation to be done in public." Clarke answered and Lexa nodded as they stood in silence watching.

From what she could see, everything was going fine and Clarke already knew that this time knowing what they did, Raven would check herself and the others a hundred times over to make sure that no poison vial was on them and if there was, she would make sure to get rid of it to not cause any problem between their people and avoid Gustus' death from happening again so Clarke was relaxed about that. Gustus and Anya turned to them and said that everything was clear and Lexa nodded before turning and walking with Clarke finally joining her people and having Finn stick to her side again as the gates opened and they walked in and started hearing the cries for the Commander.

Clarke could understand what they were saying and no cries of murderer were being said and if there was, they would be talking about her, not Finn or her people and she could handle it very well. Lexa and her party stopped and turned to look at the crowd who was forming with curious eyes on them and Clarke knew what she would do. "The Sky People march with us now, they are our allies. Anyone who tries to stop that or tries anything against them will pay with their lives." She said loud and clear so they all could hear before turning back and continuing to walk. "Warm welcome." Bellamy said and Clarke smiled looking at him. "Believe me, it actually is." Clarke said to him before following the Commander and so did the rest.

The grounders came to a stop in front of a house and Lexa and her generals turned to wait for the Sky People to catch up and once they did, the Commander took a step forward. "A feast is being prepared to celebrate our alliance and of course, you are all invited to attend. In the meantime, you will be shown to where you can camp during your stay in the village. Anya will show it to you." She looked at the woman who nodded and motioned for them to follow her and they did but Clarke stayed and Finn noticed, of course he did. "Clarke, let's go." He said and everyone stopped to look at her and Lexa intervened stepping closer to Clarke.

"As the leader of your people, Clarke will be sharing the same quarters as me. You can go now. Someone will come to get you once the feast is ready. Enjoy your rest." She said trying to hold some of her resentment and jealousy of the boy back while he looked pleadingly at the blonde who shook her head. "Go. I will be fine besides there's a lot that I need to speak with the Commander about anyway, this will make it easier. Go." She said and looked at Raven who understood the message and moved to grab Finn's arm and pulled him away as her people followed Anya and Lexa turned to look at Clarke.

"Follow me." She said and they moved towards the house they would be using during their stay in the village. Lexa motioned her forward and the blonde got inside first and just before she followed, Lexa turned to her generals. "When will the feast be ready?" she asked Indra. "Not for another three hours, Heda." The woman said and Lexa nodded. "Then, I don't want any interruptions until then. Understood?" she said firmly and they nodded. "Sha, Heda." They said and she sighed before going inside and closing the door behind her as Gustus stayed on his post outside and Indra walked out to supervise everything.

Clarke was admiring the house and everything for a while. It had a nice structure and from what Clarke knew was also the largest house in the entire village which is why it was the one chosen for the Commander whenever she came to stay in the village. It was quite big, with many rooms from what she could see and it seemed like it was nice for the people who lived in here and Clarke could not help but wonder what would it be like if she and Lexa were not leaders and got to leave in a place like this? If they were to have a house, how would it be?

She closed her eyes and imagined what it would look like and what their lives might be like. Clarke didn't picture Lexa as a warrior, perhaps a blacksmith or a farmer would suit her more while Clarke no doubt would work with the healers, after all it is something she liked doing and they would come home together every day and spent time just them, Clarke even imagined them adopting one of the orphans and raising them. The perfect dreamy life and although she knew it would not happen for they will never not be leaders, it looked so good Clarke almost got lost in those thoughts.

However, she was interrupted when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her waist from behind and a warm body press against her back and soft lips kissing her neck and she smiled taking the brunette's hands on her own. "I thought we wouldn't be alone anymore." Clarke said opening her eyes and Lexa hummed. "Me too." She said still planting kisses on the blonde before she lifted her arms from the girl's waist and started pulling Clarke's jacket off and throwing on top of the table before the blonde turned around in her arms to look at her, noticing that the war paint was gone which she imagined was why Lexa took so long to come to her side.

"You have no idea how much I missed you." Clarke said sincerely and Lexa smirked at her before pulling her closer and whispering against her mouth. "Why don't you show me?" She said in a husky sexy voice. "How long do we have?" She asked mischievously and Lexa smirked. "Three hours." She said and it was Clarke's turn to smirk as she didn't waste time before connecting their lips in a hungry kiss and Lexa didn't waste a second before pulling Clarke up to sit on the table as she settled in between her legs and the blonde's hands started working on her own coat which soon enough was on the floor and her shirt followed right after.

Lexa then pulled Clarke's shirt off too throwing near her own and she noticed the necklace. "What is this?" Lexa asked her and Clarke smiled. "Your symbol and the initial of your name. I had it made so that when I missed you, I could hold it and feel like I had you closer to me." Clarke said and Lexa looked at her with awe and love in her eyes. "I love you so much." She said before they continued kissing passionately before Lexa wrapped an arm around Clarke's waist and pulled her closer to her and off of the table.

The blonde wrapped her legs tightly around the brunette's middle and started kissing her neck as Lexa carried them towards the bedroom closing the door with one leg before putting her down on the bed and climbing on top of her, holding her weight on her arms which was not how Clarke wanted it to be so she pulled the brunette down feeling the girl's weight on top of her which just turned her on ten times more. The things Lexa did to her without doing anything at all. Clarke was madly in love, that was for sure.

She undid Lexa's bra and pulled it off throwing somewhere in the room as the brunette held herself up long enough for the blonde to do the same to herself, remove her own bra and once that piece of fabric was gone from both of them, Clarke softly held Lexa's face between her hands and pulled Lexa down on top of her bringing her in for a kiss again as their skin and breasts came in contact fueling even more the already burning sensation and desire they were feeling at the moment for each other, a desire that they never felt before for another person.

Lexa pulled back and started undoing the buttons of Clarke's pants before taking it off without breaking eye contact and once she threw it on the floor, she leaned in again and started kissing her and her neck as Lexa's right hand roamed the blonde's body before reaching her leg and pulling it up as her hand took turns before holding and caressing the blonde's thigh and squeezing her ass which brought out a moan out of Clarke which fueled Lexa even more.

Clarke then pushed Lexa and turned their positions as she straddled the older girl and smirked at her. "You said that when we saw each other again, it was my turn so now, Heda, you are just going to lay there and enjoy yourself." She said smirking and Lexa smirked back at her. "Well, then I am yours to do with as you please." Lexa said and Clarke leaned down. " _Of that Commander, I have no doubt."_ Clarke said before kissing her and moving to remove Lexa's pants and underwear and started kissing her neck on one side and then the other before trailing the kisses down and taking one of her breast in her mouth.

She licked, sucked and even bit on it earning a few moans out of Lexa before she went to give the other one the same treatment and once that was done, she continued on her way down, kissing the girl's abs which were to die for and finally went down there but she kept teasing by kissing Lexa's inner thigh, get so close but pulling back earning herself a warning call. "Clarke." Which was exactly what she needed to leave the teasing and start doing the same thing as she did on the breast. First, she started licking while hearing and feeling every short intake of breath and very tightening of muscles from Lexa every time she did that.

Then she started sucking and biting and she looked up keeping eye contact on Lexa who not only was looking back at her but was also gripping the blonde locks of hair tightly which turned Clarke on even more and fueled her to add two fingers at once and start thrusting in a fast pace which earned quiets but unstoppable moans from Lexa which made the brunette tighten her hold on the blonde's hair, pulling and pushing and a delicious and sexy cycle started and it only ended when Lexa came to which Clarke licked her clean before kissing her way back up letting the brunette taste herself. "It's my turn now?" the brunette said out of breath and Clarke only chuckled.

"Oh baby. I was just getting started."


	77. Nice moment

A nice moment

Clarke was laying with her belly down and her back exposed with the blankets down by her butt and with her arms under the pillows and was in between the states of consciousness and sleep when she started feeling soft touches of lips on her bare back, going from the curve of where her back and butt met all the way up to her neck and she started opening her eyes, just then feeling the touch of breast and a weight being put on top of her and she smiled realizing who was doing that as the memories of what happened between them just a few moments ago came rushing back in and she sighed in content and with happiness filling her heart.

"Are you usually this romantic and sweet to a girl you just sleep with or should I feel special for being the only one who gets this treatment from the almighty Commander Lexa kom Trikru?" Clarke asked smiling as she heard a chuckle from the other girl. "You should feel very special. All the other girls would have woken up to an empty bed." Lexa said kissing her lower back again and Clarke smiled closing her eyes at the feeling. "Just how many other girls are we talking about here, huh?" Clarke asked as Lexa kissed her way up putting half of her weight on Clarke before she bit her on the shoulder and whispered. "More than you would like to know." She said and bit the blonde's ear.

"Great, I'm dating Don Juan." She said smiling. "Who is that?" Lexa asked as she continued with the kisses. "Don Juan is a book I read on the Ark when I got it from my Aunt Callie on my 16 birthday. It tells the story of Don Juan, a man considered the greatest lover of all times. He slept with more than a thousand women before he was even 21. And since I know by experience that sex is one of your greatest talents right along with diplomacy…" Clarke said smiling and Lexa chuckled against her skin. "And considering what you just said, I think the nickname is fitting." She finished with a smile and even without looking at the brunette, she could feel that Lexa was smiling too.

"Well, I'm 23 and have most certainly not slept with a thousand women though the sex being a talent part, I will let you be the judge of that." Lexa said kissing her shoulder and Clarke chuckled at her. "But seriously, was there a lot? Should I be worried or jealous?" Clarke asked her and Lexa sighed before pulling away which made Clarke open her eyes and turn her head to the other side to look at the girl, noticing that the blanket was on both of their bottoms and the only thing covering the brunette's breast was her own right arm draped over them and Clarke thought Lexa looked more beautiful than anything she had ever seen before but she tried to focus on their conversation.

"Is something wrong? Did I offend you?" Clarke asked the girl who started caressing the blonde's back with her left arm which felt very good. "You didn't offend me. To be honest, there were a lot of women who graced my company, even more than one at the same time occasionally." Lexa said to her and Clarke was shocked. "You had a threesome?" she asked and Lexa frowned and Clarke shook her head. "When three people have sex." She explained and Lexa nodded both in understanding and in confirmation of her question. "Even more than that actually." She said apologetically and Clarke was really shocked by now.

"Oh my God. I can't believe it." She said and Lexa sighed, it was not something she wanted the girl to know or something she was proud of but she also didn't want to have secrets from her love so Lexa took a deep breath before starting to tell the story. "It happened right after I lost Costia. I was 17 and I was so angry at everyone, at myself for not protecting her, at Titus for his words and teaching, at Anya for not being there for me all the time, at Nia for taking Costia from me, just about everyone and I didn't want to feel so empty and in so much pain so it started about one night, a month after Costia had died,"

"I was drinking at a celebration, The Harvest Festival if I remember correctly, and this girl started flirting with me and I thought why not and had sex with her and for a few moments, it felt good but then, I would look beside me and it wasn't Costia there and it would get bad, so I would leave and it became an addiction. I would do it for that one moment of greatness and leave the next. It went on for about two years before Anya and Aden talked to me and got me to realize that doing that wasn't the way to deal with my grief and I stopped. Having meaningless sex and I also stopped letting myself care. I started believing Titus' teachings of 'love is weakness' and all of that. Three years later, I met you." Lexa explained.

"I'm so sorry about what happened to Costia, it must have been awful for you but you have to know what happened to her, it was not your fault, Lexa." Clarke said as she freed one arm from under the pillow and caressed the girl's face wiping away the tear which escaped. "When I arrived here in this village for the first time, it was just as Finn fired his last shots and the last body fell to the ground and when I understood what he had done to those people and why he was doing it, the only thing I could do was blame myself for it, like somehow it was my fault that he did what he did, that those people died." Clarke started talking.

"If only I had gotten out of that place sooner or arrived at Arkadia sooner. If I hadn't passed out for 10 hours after being shot, if, if, if, if. That was all I could think and was one of the reasons why I tried so hard to save him, the other one was because I loved him. But although it took me a while, a long while, I realized that we are not always responsible for other people's mistake. I am not responsible for Finn's or Bellamy's massacre and you are not responsible for what Nia did to Costia or what Ontari did to the nightbloods, which I know you also blame yourself for it." Clarke said and Lexa nodded.

"Is that what saddened you when we arrived? Were you thinking about that?" Lexa asked and Clarke sighed nodding. "I was remembering the circumstances of our arrival here, now and then. How Finn massacred those people and how I had to kill him, the burning of the bodies, all of those memories came back but don't misunderstand me. I am beyond happy that this time everything is different but I can't help to be reminded that it could have been a disaster as it was once." Clarke said and Lexa nodded understanding what the blonde was saying.

"How much has your idea of me changed with what I told you?" Lexa asked changing the subject. She was not ready to talk about her own memories, not yet and Clarke seemed to understand that as well. "What you told me? You mean about the women you slept with?" She asked her and Lexa nodded. "That changed nothing about the way I see you, nothing could, because I have always seen you, Lex. Knowing that you had a lot of sex doesn't change who you are to me at all but it does makes me slightly insecure." Clarke said shrugging.

"I mean I am not jealous because I know that you didn't love them or anything but insecurity, yes a little. I mean, you're older and way more experienced at this than I am. In this body, today was my first time. And those women, surely, they had more experience too and knew how to be very good in bed and to satisfy you and I'm still learning, I guess. Even before, last time, I had only slept with three people, including you. Compared to what they know, I'm a beginner so I don't know if it will be enough." Clarke said sincerely and Lexa kissed her hand.

"And you have no idea how special it makes me feel that you chose me to be your first this time. It is considered by my people a great honor to be the first one to draw blood from a woman down there, to be chosen and trusted like that and the fact you trusted me means more to me than you will know or that I can express." Lexa said and Clarke could only nod. She hadn't known that virginity and losing it was viewed this way by Lexa's people, Finn certainly didn't seem to think too much about the fact that she had let him be her first but she wasn't bothered by his behavior and as for Lexa, there was nothing more beautiful than what she was saying to her, the reverence in her voice while talking about it.

"As for the other reason of your worry, you have absolutely nothing to be insecure of. Those women may have more experience in bed than you did or do but none of them could ever make me feel the way you have. Physically or emotionally. Ever." Lexa said fiercely and sincerely as she smiled at the blonde. "Having sex with someone is easy, Clarke. But making love to them, connecting with their hearts, the way you and I do, I never had that with anyone before, not even Costia so in a way this is like my first time too." Lexa said and Clarke smiled sweetly at her. "Although I am not your first, as long as I am your last, I have nothing to complain about." Clarke said and Lexa nodded.

"You are my last and you are the only one I love or want or need for the rest of my life." Lexa said and Clarke smiled. "I better be because if I ever find you with another girl, you are going to feel the wrath of a Griffin woman and I warn you, you should be very scared of that. It gets ugly." Clarke said firmly before chuckling. "Well, then I have nothing to worry about. Fidelity is one of my talents and you can trust me. I will never want anyone else but you, ever." She said and Clarke smiled. "Come on, I have to ask this. How many girls left your room and ran straight into Titus?" Clarke asked and Lexa chuckled. "One."

"That can't be true. With how many you slept with and the close watch he keeps on you, that is impossible." She asked and Lexa smiled. "It is true because the only woman who ever slept in my bed after Costia was you. The other ones I would take them to the other rooms but never mine. That bed I had shared with Costia since the day I became Commander and when she died I swore that I would only share it with someone I loved as much or more than I loved her and the only one that fitted that oath was you. Is you." She said and Clarke smiled.

"I feel very honored for that and I love you too, so damn much." Clarke said as she moved forward and connected their lips in a series of soft and gentle kisses as she pulled herself on top of Lexa who caressed her back as they kissed. "Clarke, there is something I want to ask you." Lexa said pulling back from the kisses and Clarke looked at her. "What is it?" She said caressing the girl's face and her perfect jawline, seriously, it was a crime to have a jawline so sexy like that. "What is going on between you and Finn?" Lexa asked her and Clarke focused back on her once she heard the question.

"Nothing, why?" She asked her. "He is always near you, I was just wondering." Lexa said as she played it Clarke's necklace and Clarke sighed. "Well, I stopped anything from happening between Finn and I, including him being my first, which is a place you occupy now, but I couldn't stop him from falling in love with me and wishing that he can have a chance though I already told him it wouldn't happen but there is absolutely nothing going on between Finn and me. You were the only one I want too." Clarke said kissing her again and again and again.

"I love you." Lexa said and Clarke smiled. "I love you too." She said before they started kissing and shifted their positions before they went a few more rounds of making love before they realized that they needed to be ready soon so after finishing and cuddling a little, they started putting back their clothes and they made the bed and it looked like no one touched it which earned them quite a few laughs before Lexa grabbed her pack and sat down on the table with the paint and a mirror and went to apply it but Clarke stopped her before settling herself on the brunette's lap facing her with either leg on one side of her girlfriend and started painting.

"Why did you choose this design of war paint?" Clarke asked her curiously and Lexa put her hands on the girl's hips and closed her eyes as the blonde painted them. "As you know, each Trikru warrior gets to choose their war paint design when they finish being a second and, it is usually a tribute to that of his first and something special to himself. All warriors choose but the Commander. The design of the Commander's war paint is the same for all Commanders. When Becca first arrived here and saw the destruction that A.L.I.E had done and the suffering of the people, she cried and as her body was still adjusting to the nightblood solution she had created, instead of tears she cried blood, black blood." Lexa explained.

"That's why the paint is in the shape of fallen tears?" Clarke asked and Lexa nodded. "When she saw what she had caused, and as the tears fell on her face, she promised and made an oath that she would do everything she could, anything she had to do to take care of the survivors and make sure they stayed alive, thus giving them the night blood solution she had made and therefore creating the first nightbloods and that was how she became the first Commander. The design of the paint is to symbolize that oath. That as Commanders, our first and most important duty is to take care of our people, no matter the cost even if it that cost is our own lives." Lexa explained to her girlfriend.

"That is beautifully sad and, we are finished." She said putting the brush down as Lexa opened her eyes and Clarke looked at them. "I love your eyes and their color. Whenever I thought about you, they were the first image of you that would come to my mind. The shape and how green they are. The color of the Earth." Clarke said and Lexa smiled. "I feel the same with yours. The color of the Sky." Lexa said and Clarke smiled. "We are so in love. It's disgusting, really." She said before kissing Lexa for a while.

Before things could get heated once again, they heard a knock on the door. "Heda, the feast is ready. They await yours and the Sky leader's presence." Gustus said from outside and they sighed as Clarke got off of Lexa's lap and thankfully without any paint on her face as the brunette stood up and attached her shoulder pad and they looked at each other. "Maybe this time we will get to enjoy the feast." Clarke said to her and Lexa chuckled. "We better." Lexa said as they chuckled and kissed one last time before they put on their leader face and turned the leader mode on and walked out of the house.


	78. Chit chatting

Chit chatting

After being shown where they were supposed to be staying while in the village by Anya, who quickly left after explaining that when the feast was ready, someone would come to get them, the Sky people nodded at her, thanking her for the help and settled down on their designated spot after putting up the tents that they would use while they were here. The adults were on one side of the spot talking among themselves and the teens on the other as they were also talking about everything that was going on.

"I like this place, your village. It looks so cozy, definitely more than the Ark ever did besides they have houses, I mean, that is wicked. I wish I had one like this. I would fill with cool stuff. It would be awesome." Raven said smiling to Lincoln. The sitting arrangement was from left to right in a semicircle: Lincoln, Octavia, Bellamy, Wells, Finn, Raven and Murphy. "I agree. I would be down to live like this, you know." Murphy said and they fist bumped each other knowing very well that the ones they love live like this.

"It's definitely different than what we imagined it would be. No offense." Wells said apologizing to Lincoln who shook his head. "None taken." The grounder said. "Lincoln showed me that near here there is a statue and the people of the village goes there to settle disputes. Like a scared place or something." Octavia said to them. "Really? Then I think I know where we are." Wells said and they looked at him. "I aced old word geography." He said shrugging before turning to Lincoln. "The village name is TonDC, right?" he asked him and he nodded.

"The United States' capital was called Washington DC and in the city, there was a huge statue of a man sitting down." He said looking at the others and Lincoln seemed interested. "That is the shape of the statue." He said and Wells nodded. "His name was Abraham Lincoln." He said and the others were surprised. "So that where your name comes from." Octavia said to her boyfriend who nodded. "Who was he anyway?" She asked Wells. "The 16th president, kind of like the Commander position. He won the Civil War and abolished slavery." Wells explained and they nodded.

"Well, I don't know. I guess I prefer the Ark." Bellamy said out loud and Raven turned to him. "Really? You think so? You know what, Bell boy, I bet that you are going to join your sister in the GP club before the end of the month." Raven said to him as they looked at her. "What the hell is the GP club, Raven?" Wells asked her and she smirked. "The Grounder Pounder club, Wells. Club founded by our own Miss Octavia Blake." She said and applauded the girl as did Murphy and the others chuckled. "Shut up, Raven." The girl said and Raven chuckled.

"Whatever. I think Bellamy will join the club. Let's bet. Murphy, what do you say?" She said and Bellamy looked at her. "Really?" He asked her and she nodded. "Really, now shut up and let us make our bets." She said to him and he sighed shaking his head. "I bet that he will be interested in a grounder but won't admit it unless under torture." Murphy said as he shared a look with Raven and one name and person came to both of their minds, Echo, and they smiled. "Wells, your turn." She said to their other friend. "I think he will have something with a grounder but will end up with one of our people." He said.

"Finn." She asked and he shook his head. "He won't be with a grounder. He's too xenophobic to do it." Finn said simply and Bellamy scoffed. "I'm not and I would be with one of them if I felt like it so you lose immediately." He said to the boy and the rest chuckled but Murphy and Raven knew that the Bellamy of the massacre would fit right into the person Finn was describing but luckily, he was not that person yet and would never be so again. "O. What say you in your sisterly wisdom?" Murphy asked the younger Blake. "I say he is going to marry a grounder, period." She said firmly and they laughed including Bellamy.

"Lincoln. Your turn." Raven asked him. "I agree with Octavia." He said simply and Murphy made whipping sounds. "Dude, she got you good. Whipped to the core." He joked and Octavia had to explain what the expression meant and Lincoln only shrugged not even denying it. "What about you, Raven? Will you join the club?" Bellamy asked her and she nodded. "Most definitely. Have you seen some of them? I mean, our people just do not produce such nice body structures like they do. Your people really need to keep procreating." She said to Lincoln and he chuckled while the others laughed.

"I agree with Raven 100% percent. The grounders really know how to make good looking people." Murphy said and Raven nodded. "And the women? My, my. What is that?" She said and the two of them high fived each other. "You swing that way, Raven?" Octavia asked her and raven smirked. "I swing whatever way hotness is, sweet cheeks. Men, women, does not matter. What matters is the attraction and the connection. Besides, have you seen cheek bones and hot stuff? How can you ignore that? I would have to be blind." Raven said to her and everyone was confused.

"Who are you talking about?" Wells asked her. "Cheek bones is Anya and Hot stuff is the Commander." Murphy translated and Raven nodded. "They are hot. Especially the Commander." Octavia said agreeing and the boys agreed except Finn. "Don't you think so Finn?" Bellamy asked him and the boy frowned. "I don't see anything special about her, sure she is pretty." He said and Murphy chuckled. "But Clarke is prettier, isn't she?" He asked and Finn nodded. "Clarke is more beautiful." He said sincerely.

"Oh, you shouldn't have walked right into his game, Finn." Raven said since she knew where Murphy would go with this, of course he wouldn't miss the chance to tease Finn about Clarke and Lexa, he wouldn't be Murphy if he did. "See? My early assessment was right. Who were we kidding? Of course I was right. Boy wonder is jealous." Murphy said and the others looked at him. "Jealous of what specifically?" Wells asked and Raven groaned. "Jealous that within three days the Commander got more chance with Clarke than he ever had." Murphy said.

"She is not interested in the Commander." Finn said to the boy, even though everyone knew that Murphy was telling the truth, the looks they were giving each other would probe him right either way. "How do you know that?" Octavia asked him, thinking he was in denial. "Yeah, because if the reason you say that is the fact that the Commander is a girl, sorry to say but Clarke is bi and proud of it. She even had a girlfriend in the Ark so she would have no problem with that either, neither would Jake and Abby." Wells said gently but Finn shook his head.

"It's not that. I knew Clarke liked girls too. I just don't think she is interested in the Commander, that's all." He said to them shrugging his shoulder. "Well, if you think so. But I think she is. We all saw how Clarke was when the Commander was helping her get up and off of the horse. She was all blushing and being awkward, not to mention the looks they were giving each other." Bellamy said to them. "Yeah, does the Commander always do that? Help girls like that?" Octavia asked her boyfriend and Lincoln nodded.

"The Commander is very well known amongst our people for her chivalry towards women and for being popular with them as well." Lincoln said as a matter of fact and they smiled, Raven and Murphy smirking. "Really?" Murphy asked the grounder and he nodded. "No woman have ever resisted the Commander's advances. Any woman the Commander flirt with always say yes to her. She has never been turned down and the women who go to bed with her always give her the biggest of praises." Lincoln said and they smiled. "Can we even be talking about this? It's her private life." Wells asked and Lincoln nodded smiling.

"The Commander's prowess in bed is well known amongst the warriors, especially after a victory in a battle, we celebrate it with her after she is done. Sex is natural for us as I have learned it is not for you." Lincoln said to the boy and Murphy asked him. "When you said that it was known after a victory, what did you mean?" Lincoln looked at everyone and said as if it was nothing. "The Commander would take women to her tent and they would be very loud in voicing their pleasure. The louder the women screamed, the louder the warriors celebrated outside." He said as the others chuckled. "Woah, Clarke is in for an adventure." Murphy said laughing and the others chuckled except for Finn.

Meanwhile with the adults, their talk was about what was happening in the political terrain. "I don't like that the Commander is letting Clarke decide for our people. She is a child and has no right to be making the decisions for all of us." Jaha said to them and Kane sighed at what he was saying. Jake spoke up, "I agree that they are young but they are doing the best they can to get the other kids and the grounders out of Mount Weather and frankly, I believe they have a better chance at succeeding than we would if we tried and I am not saying that because she is my daughter but because it's what I see," Jake said and Kane nodded agreeing.

"I think that is exactly why the Commander has recognized Clarke as our leader. For the past month, they have been down here fighting the grounders by themselves and without our help, and Clarke was the one leading them and who saved the kids' lives by killing the grounders who were attacking and from what I could see, they must respect Clarke for what she has done and because of her intelligence. And to be honest, Clarke has been doing an amazing job at leading first the 100 and now us. I have no complaints. It's time the kids taught us a thing or two." Kane said to the man and Jake and Abby nodded.

"Besides, this is not a contest if who has the power, Thelonious. This is about something bigger than that. It's about getting our kids back and about a chance to live in peace and safely and if letting Clarke lead us is what it takes to get that, then let her. She is very good at it." Abby said and the man sighed. "What if this goes wrong and they are just using us so they can get what they want and kill us next?" He asked them and Kane sighed. "One problem at a time. First, we deal with getting through this and then, we think about what comes after that. Relax a little." Kane said and squeezed the Chancellor's shoulder as he let out a deep breath.

"Earth is certainly different than we expected, isn't it?" Jaha said to the other three and they chuckled. "Most definitely. We were not prepared for it." Abby said agreeing. "I thought that the only thing we would find was nature, never people and certainly never a civilization like this one. Truth be told, the more I get to know them, the more I find them fascinating. Ruthless and with strange customs, but fascinating." Jake said and Kane smiled. "I do too and from what I have seen and heard from Clarke about the Commander, she wants peace as much as we do." Kane said and the couple nodded.

"When I worked with Nyko, he seemed surprised about a few information and techniques I used to heal Lincoln, so I got talking with him and realized that the knowledge they have is limited where medical is concerned so maybe if we could offer that up, it would be one more reason for peace between us, don't you think?" Abby said and Kane nodded at her agreeing. He could see the difference that having Jake by her side and Clarke has helped Abby be more open to the kids and to peace with the grounders.

"Clarke already said to me that she plans to find out of any way in which we can get a lasting peace treaty with them so all we have to do is wait for her information and see if your idea can help us achieve that. If it does, then I am sure they will be more than interested in learning everything they can and we can do the same with them. The knowledge they have on herbs would also be nice to learn about, as well as the chance to perhaps trade things with other clans and be allowed to find out more about where we are living." He said and she nodded.

"I could also help with engineering ideas. There is a lot that I have been thinking about that if I can do it will help us settle better and it could also come in handy for the grounders." Jake said and they nodded just as Clarke appeared and got everyone's attention as they all looked at her. "The feast is ready. The Commander is waiting for us. Let's go." Clarke said motioning for them to go as they all got up and started walking towards the house where the warriors were outside as Clarke waited for Raven and then they started walking on the back of the group. "So it is safe to say that your presidency of the Grounder Pounder club is officially a go?" Raven whispered and Clarke chuckled.

"You're disgusting." She said and Raven held back on her arm making the blonde turn to her and she looked straight in her eyes. "You got laid bitch, I can see the happiness and the after sex glow in your eyes." Raven whispered to her and Clarke couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing and so did Raven. "Okay so maybe our conversation was really productive in that area." Clarke said in a low voice and Raven smiled. "Lucky bitch, I swear to God. Why do you get to be with your girl and Murphy and I can't get with ours? It's not fair. I hate you." Raven said to her and Clarke smiled.

"Look, as soon as this is over and the Mountain Men are dealt with and our people are safe, I will make sure to get you both reunited with your girls, I promise but bear with me for now." Clarke said and Raven nodded with a pout on her face as they started walking towards the house and just before they entered the place, Raven stopped her with a smirk on her face and Clarke knew it couldn't be good. "Okay, just answer one question. From 1 to 10, how good is she? For real." Raven asked and Clarke chuckled and kept walking and just as she was by the entrance, she looked back at Raven and answered. "15." She said before going in and Raven chuckled before following her friend.

"Lucky bitch."


	79. The feast happens

The feast happens

The girls entered the place and saw that the table was more or less the same but bigger considering that this time around there were more places on their side and one more on Lexa's side, occupied by Anya who hadn't been alive to see this moment. The seating arrangement was also more or less the same, Clarke who was once again sitting across from Lexa, to her right side, it was Kane, Raven, Wells, Jaha and Finn and to her left, her Mom, her Dad, Murphy, Bellamy, Octavia and Lincoln. With Lexa, on her left was Anya and Gustus and on her right was Indra and Nyko and the rest were warriors Clarke didn't know the name of.

Once again, as they entered the grounders were standing up and so were the Skaikru as Clarke and Raven joined them last and she stood face to face with Lexa. "Please accept this gift, Commander. We drink this at special occasion. I believe this qualifies." Kane said to Lexa as he unwrapped the cloth around the bottle and he gave to Clarke. "I will take a sip so you know there is nothing wrong with it and we mean you no harm." Clarke said and poured herself some and drank it all and nothing happened and then she passed it back to Kane.

There was no way Clarke would give Gustus or any other grounder any chance to try and frame them for attempted murder of the Commander, not this time. "Thank you, Marcus of the Sky People." Lexa said accepting the bottle from his hand. "You're welcome, Commander." He said nodding his head at her, this time choosing to respect her position and call her by her title instead of calling her by her name like he did last time and it seemed to go well with the other grounders so he mentally thanked Clarke for the tip.

Lexa nodded back also noticing that fact before she opened the bottle and poured the drink in two cups before offering one to Clarke who gladly took as their fingers touched and they reminded themselves not to linger too long and to keep a straight face despite their racing hearts. "Clarke, let us drink together." She said to her and Clarke nodded. "It would be my pleasure, Commander." She said and Lexa nodded. " _Commander, allow me_." Gustus said to her cup and Lexa shook her head at him.

" _There is no need. Clarke already showed that there is nothing wrong with the drink. Relax Gustus_." She said to him and he nodded. "Tonight we celebrate our newfound peace and tomorrow we plan our war. To those we've lost and to those we shall soon find." Lexa said raising her glass and so did Clarke and this time they drank nothing happened and that was how they knew they had changed this moment. They drank it all before Lexa turned to everyone. "Let us feast." She said sitting down as everyone else moved to do the same and they all started grabbing the food and putting on their plate as did Lexa and Clarke.

"Nyko has been quite impressed by your abilities, Abby of the Sky People." Lexa said getting the woman's attention and she nodded. "Thank you but I didn't do much." She said and Nyko spoke. "Your abilities at healing are more advanced than ours." He said to her and she shook her head. "It depends on what area you are talking about. Your knowledge of plants and herbs and their properties is far beyond ours as well." She said to him and he nodded. "Maybe you could both trade a few of that knowledge so both people could benefit from it." Lexa suggested and Clarke smiled at her girlfriend.

"I would love too." Abby said to Lexa as she started talking to Nyko about different things that they did with their patients and what could be used to help with each disease. "Jake, right? You're Clarke's father?" Lexa asked moving on to the engineer and the man nodded at her. "I am." He said smiling. "You must be proud of her and the work she has done for your people." Lexa said to him and he nodded. "I am, very much. Always have been. Clarke was always a wonderful daughter, a troublemaker but not too big of one though. Just enough to get me to age a little faster." He said to her and the Commander smiled and Clarke shook her head.

"Dad, really? What did we talk about not embarrassing your kids in front of other people anymore?" Clarke said to him and he laughed at her. "I will never stop doing that. It's my job as a parent to embarrass you." He said to her and she shook her head. "You two seem very close." Lexa commented and they both nodded. "We are though I think I will lose the post of favorite daughter very soon." Clarke said as the others started paying attention to their talk. "Why is that?" Anya asked her and Clarke smiled. "My parents adopted my friend who is 12, she was an orphan and I am pretty sure they like her more than they like me already." Clarke said and her father nodded.

"Very true." He said and she chuckled. "I know. It is so like you to do it, think you can corrupt her into being an engineer but you lost her to healing as well." She said to him and he chuckled. "It's a beautiful gesture. Our kids, when they lose their parents, are also taken care of and families usually take them in like you have or they stay in the orphanage in our capitol." Lexa said and he smiled. "She was already part of the family. It didn't change much, just that we are now Mom and Dad." He said to her and she nodded giving a small smile. "What about you, Marcus? Children?" Lexa asked and he smiled. "You're looking at them." He said joking and Raven rested her head on his shoulder.

"So touching, should I be calling you daddy?" She said and the others smiled. "Get off Raven." He said to her and she nodded getting off laughing at him. "Are you always like this?" Anya asked Raven and she nodded. "24/7, cheek bones." She said and Lexa almost choked on her drink with the nickname. "What did you just call me?" Anya said to her and Clarke intervened. "I'm sorry. Raven didn't mean to offend you at all. It's a habit she has of nicknaming people. She calls me all kinds of name and I am her best friend. I apologize in her name." Clarke said trying to smooth the situation and Anya nodded.

"So you gave all of us nicknames?" Anya asked the mechanic and Raven nodded. "If I can't remember names or if I don't know you, it really helps. But yeah, I did." Raven said eating. "Than what are our nicknames?" Lexa asked her and Raven swallowed before looking to the left and at Clarke who sighed and nodded. "Go ahead." She said and Raven smiled. "Okay, so Lincoln is Captain Broody." Raven said and he nodded having heard that one before as the others smiled even the grounders were paying attention to her now. "She is Scary Face." Raven said referring to Indra.

"You're Cheek Bones. You, pass. He is Giant Dude and he is Grounder Doc." She said about Anya, Lexa, Gustus and Nyko, respectively. "Why did you pass the Commander?" Anya asked her and Raven looked at her. "I didn't want her to feel offended and break the alliance." Raven said and Clarke face palmed herself because she knew that was not the reason why. At all. "That will not happen. Tell me. What is my nickname?" Lexa asked her curious about it as everyone seemed to be on hold waiting for the answer. "Well, if you say so. Your nickname is Hot Stuff." Raven said and Clarke chocked on her drink while the Sky people chuckled.

"Why are you laughing? Are you mocking the Commander?" Indra asked her angrily and Raven shook her head. "Believe me, I am not. Clarke, can you explain the nickname?" Raven said and stuffed her mouth and Clarke looked at her with a murderous gaze. "Explain. Why did she mock the Commander's temperature?" Anya asked the blonde and Clarke looked at Lexa who also seemed curious and she killed Raven in her mind a thousand times over in the span of one second. "She was not talking about the Commander's temperature. Hot for us is another term for attractive." Clarke said blushing a little as Lexa smiled.

"So you think I'm attractive? Hot, as you said?" Lexa asked Raven with uncertainty on the use of the word and Clarke found it adorable. "With all due respect, hell yeah. I was just telling our friends that your people have really nice bodies. I was wondering if it was genetics, you know? Passed down from parents to children because if it is, congratulations, you make very good looking kids. Please continue procreating and spreading your sexiness all over the world. We appreciate as do our eyes." Raven said seriously and the grounders started laughing and so did the Sky People. "We will keep that in mind." Lexa said to her and that seemed to be the ice breaker they needed.

The rest of the feast went by quite well. Even Gustus made conversation with Kane and Jaha as Kane made sure to keep the Chancellor in check so he wouldn't say anything that could jeopardize this. Lexa made sure to talk the most to Clarke's parents, especially Jake who she hadn't met before and they were getting along quite well and Clarke had to try to remind herself to keep it together but when she saw Lexa laugh or smile she couldn't help but look at her and when Gustus or Jake would join Abby's conversation with Nyko, the two girl couldn't help but stare at each other.

Everyone else was too busy chatting except Indra and one more person who was watching the two girls intensively which was Finn, who wasn't liking their looks at all and couldn't count the minutes before this would end so he could talk to Clarke and soon enough, the feast was over and everyone stood up. "Thank you for everything. The food was delicious." Clarke said to the grounders and Lexa smiled. "Let this be the start of a great alliance," She said and Clarke nodded. "Most definitely," She said and they exchanged a few more words before the Sky people left the place and went to their designated spot, Clarke included.

They started a fire and everyone was sitting around it and Murphy and Raven, each one on either side of Clarke at the center and the rest of the sitting pretty much the same as before with the adults closing the circle. "That went well, right? We didn't screw up?" Octavia asked them and Clarke nodded smiling. "It did and we didn't. But now, it's time for planning the war so the rest of you will be going home now." Clarke said to them and they were surprised. "We are not going to stay?" Wells asked her and she shook her head.

"No. The attack on the Mountain won't, cannot happen until Bellamy succeeds his mission first." Clarke said as they all looked at her, Bellamy especially, since he hadn't known of any mission. "What mission?" He asked her curiously and she took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes. "Infiltrate the Mountain. Be our spy inside their walls." She said to him and everyone was shocked. Not everyone since Murphy and Raven were already expecting it but the rest of them were surprised by what she said and shocked by it as well.

"Clarke." Wells called to her and Jaha also started protesting but she shook her head and silenced them. "Believe me, I know that it's a dangerous mission but we have no other choice. We need someone on the inside to lower their defenses, such as the acid fog. If we can't get close to our enemy, we can't win. And between all of us, Bellamy is more suited for the task but I will not force you, of course. It's your choice in the end." Clarke said to him and he nodded at her. "I'll do it." He said without a doubt and she smiled at him. She knew he would.

"How are you even going to get inside?" Octavia asked him and like Clarke expected, Lincoln stepped up. "I can get him through the tunnels." He said firmly and Bellamy nodded, Octavia stepped up and tried to talk them both out of it and Clarke took the chance and gave Raven the sign to get the radio, it was about time that they received the message from Monty. "Here are the maps I drew of Mountain. I tried to memorize and replicate it as best as I could, it should be able to get you where you need to go." She said passing it to Bellamy and he nodded at her pulling the maps and looking at them.

"Clarke, are you sure that this is a good idea?" Abby asked her daughter and Clarke nodded. "The Commander and I were talking earlier and we realized that we have an advantage that they haven't realized yet. There is an army of grounders inside, Bellamy needs to get to them and free them." Clarke said and he nodded understanding what she wanted him to do. "Trojan Horse. Good." He said to her and she smiled nodding. "I don't like putting you two or anyone else at risk but I am afraid we don't have much time or choice." She said that just as Raven came out of the tent. "Guys." She said rejoining them.

"I was able to jam the signal from Mount Weather and look at what I've got." She said to them and turned the volume up and played the message Jasper sent them and everyone else listened. "Talk to him, say something." Clarke said and Raven shook her head. "It's repeating." She explained though they both already knew that. "They're alive." Octavia said. "You're right. We need to do this now. We got the alliance, now if I can get inside, we can save them before chocolate cake turns into being hung upside down and drained from their blood." Bellamy said to her and she nodded.

"More like drained of their bone marrow." Clarke said and they looked at her. "Our blood is more resistant to radiation than the Grounders and they know it so they will want it permanently and the only way to do that is bone marrow extraction. But to supply their whole people, they would have to dry us clean and kill all of the 64 of our friends." Clarke explained and they were shocked. "We will go tomorrow, first light." Bellamy said and Lincoln nodded. "Good. Raven, show him what he need to look for." She said and they both stood up.

"The rest of you, except Murphy, will go back to Arkadia. The Commander is going to send a group of her warriors there so that our people can train for the battle, send a few of the guards here in return. Please, try to get along with them. Kane, make sure that there are no serious problem between the people." She said and he nodded. "You got it." He said to her and she nodded. "I should stay too. As Chancellor, I should be a part of the planning." Jaha said and she shook her head. "No, go back and take care of our people there. Murphy and I can handle it." She said firmly and stood up.

"I have to go. I will see you guys tomorrow." Clarke said and bid goodnight to everyone before she walked towards the house she was sharing with Lexa and got inside, closing the door and went straight to the bedroom where Lexa was already sleeping but woke up when she heard Clarke enter. "I was almost thinking you would let me sleep alone." She said as Clarke removed her clothes and joined the woman on bed and laid her head on the brunette's chest. "Of course not, I was just advancing our plans." She said before they kissed and went to sleep wrapped around one another.


	80. Handling a bully

Handling a bully

The sun was already high up in the sky from what she could see coming from the windows of the room when Lexa finally woke up. She had always been an early riser. For as long as she could remember, she always woke up along with the sun rising in the sky thanks to the nightblood training she had since she was a kid and even before that, her parents were early risers too but today, however, had been different, she had woken up later than that and all because of one small blonde detail.

The body she was cuddling with, spooning would be the correct term with Lexa as the big spoon and Clarke's back pressed to her chest, Lexa's left arm under the girl's neck and wrapped around her shoulders and her right arm around the girl's waist. Lexa opened her eyes and could see blonde hair like the sun itself right in front of her eyes and she smiled as she continued to let them both stay like that for a few more moments, just enjoying the feeling of having Clarke in her arms again. She couldn't help but pull the girl closer and smell her before dropping kisses on the girl's neck which started waking her up.

"Good morning, beautiful." Lexa said to her girlfriend and could see the hint of a smile on the blonde's face as she grabbed Lexa's arm on her waist and pulled the brunette closer, as close as it could be humanly possible. "I don't want to get up. I want stay like this, with you, forever." She said and Lexa smiled. "And we will but first we have a war to win, my love." She said and Clarke opened her eyes and sighed before she turned around to face Lexa who put a strand of blond hair behind Clarke's ear. "I'm not exactly looking forward to dealing with Quint again." Clarke said pouting and Lexa nodded.

"I will keep him away from you." She said and Clarke shook her head. "Not completely though. If I have to earn your generals' respect, I need to handle him on my own and this time, no woods and certainly, no Pauna to deal with." Clarke said and Lexa pouted. "Why not? It was a bonding moment between us." She said to her and Clarke smiled before moving to straddle the Commander who also smiled. "You're too cute for your own good." Clarke said and Lexa frowned. "No, I am not. I am fierce." She said and Clarke smiled. "You're badass cute." She said leaning down and kissing Lexa before pulling back.

"Besides, we don't need that bonding moment. We have other ways to bond, much more pleasurable ways, don't you think?" Clarke said kissing her neck and Lexa smiled. "Most definitely but not now. You need to send off your people home and Bellamy to his mission and I need to prepare mine to handle you in the meeting." Lexa said and Clarke nodded. "And after that? Since we are not going to spend the day running from a giant mutant gorilla that want to eat us, what will we do?" Clarke asked her and Lexa shrugged. "Anything you want." She said and Clarke seemed to think and then she smiled.

"And I already know what that is but it will be a surprise." Clarke said before kissing Lexa one more time and getting off of her and off the bed. "You're not going to tell me?" Lexa asked holding herself up on her arms looking at her girlfriend and Clarke shook her head, putting on her clothes. "Nope. But I think you will like it a little too much so there's that." She said before she stood up once she was fully clothes and leaned forward kissing her girlfriend again. "I love you." She said before pulling back. "I love you too." Lexa said as Clarke grabbed her jacket and walked out of the room and Lexa fell back on the bed with a smile on her face.

Clarke went out of the house, greeting the two guards who were by the door and went straight in the direction of her people and could see Bellamy had already changed into a grounder outfit they had been provided with and so had Lincoln and the tents had already been turned down and they all seemed to be finishing packing. She was about to go talk to them when someone held her hand and she turned to see that it was Finn, she gave him a small smile. "Hey, you're ready to go?" She asked him but he didn't smile back.

"I'm not going. I will stay here with you." He said to her and she sighed shaking her head. "Finn, you're not staying." She said to him and he shook his head. "I will, Murphy can't protect you all by himself and I will not let you deal with this alone." He said coming closer to her but she stepped back. "First of all, Murphy is not staying to protect me, I can do that myself. He is staying because I want him to stay. Second of all, I am not dealing with this alone, the Commander is helping me." She said to him and he scoffed.

"Yeah, I know what kind of help she is interested in giving you." He said to her and she shook her head. "I don't understand what you are talking about." She said crossing her arms and he looked at her. "You didn't notice the way she looked at you during the feast? She wants you, Clarke." He said and she really needed to talk to Lexa for the two of them to be more discreet. They shouldn't be so obvious about their feelings for each other even if other would think is simply lust and attraction, there is that too and it is not that bad for people to see that but the danger is the moment they see the love. That is dangerous.

"Even if what you are implying is true, which I am not saying it is or that it isn't, it's something between the Commander and I to deal with it, to figure it out. It is our choice if such a thing happens between us or not. I appreciate the concern, I really do but you are my friend, Finn, not my boyfriend so if I want to have sex with the Commander or anyone else, I can and I will because I choose to. Besides, I already told you that nothing is going to happen between us." She said to him and he looked at her.

"Please try to understand that. You have been pushing things, giving me kisses when I didn't want to and I need that to stop right now, Finn." Clarke said seriously. "I only let it slide because there were too many things going on for me to stop and talk to you about it but I am doing it now. Don't ever do something like that again, it's invasive, disrespectful and unwanted from my part, do you understand what I am trying to say? You need to stop it. Don't do it again." She said to him and he nodded at he before he sighed.

"Why? Why won't you give me, us a chance?" He asked her and she sighed. "Because I don't feel that way about you, Finn. I only see you as a friend and that is not going to change so please, try to forget me and move on. Find someone else. Someone who can love you like Wells did with Maggie." She said to him and he looked down before looking back at her. "Do you like her?" He asked her. "Who? The Commander?" She asked him and he nodded and she sighed deciding to go with the truth, or at least with half of the truth.

"Yes, I think so, we only just met but there is something about her that is drawing me in and I am not resisting it. But I can only think about saving our friends right now so maybe after we have won this battle and everyone is okay, I may want to see where that goes with her and I am sorry but you and me, it's never going to happen even if she wasn't an option. I hope we can continue to be friends but I will understand if you need some time first. I will always care about you, Finn, just not like that. I'm sorry, I never wanted to hurt you." She said and hugged him before pulling back and going to where the others were.

"Ready?" She said to them as she came to Bellamy's side and he nodded at her. "Nervous but yeah, I'm ready." He said and she smiled. "Look, the Commander's people are not exactly patient but I will try to hold them off enough to give you time to get to that to the radio they have and make contact. Not to pressure you or anything but try to be fast." She said to him and he nodded smiling. "No pressure at all. But I will try my best. Good luck with them. You will need it." He said motioning to the grounders and she nodded. "Good luck on your side too." She said and hugged him and he hugged her back.

Things may have been differently but she was glad she was able to form her friendship with Bellamy again. She pulled back as the others joined them, including Finn. "We're ready." Kane said and she nodded. "I will be going to Arkadia tomorrow to check on everything and also to check on Bellamy's progress." She said and they nodded before they started saying goodbye. She went to hug her parents. "Stay safe, okay? And anything you need, send for us and we will come." Her Dad said and she smiled before pulling back and nodding at them.

"I will keep that in mind." She said and they started walking away along with the others as Bellamy and Lincoln also left on their own quest and the last one to leave was Raven who hugged her tightly. "You know exactly what to do and don't forget that you have us and that we believe in you." She said and Clarke nodded hugging her tighter. "I will get her to bring Luna, I promise." She said and they chuckled before Raven hugged Murphy too and got two walkies from her bag. "This will allow us to talk privately. Keep me posted." She said and they nodded before she hugged them both and ran to catch up with the others.

"What do we do now?" Murphy asked as Clarke sighed. "Now, we have lunch and then we face the generals." She said as they hugged each other sideways and watched their people leave the village and the gates closed behind them and that was what they did after the others were gone. They ate and within a few hours when they saw Indra and a group of grounder warriors leave, Clarke and Murphy entered the meeting and took their places. "Clarke, explain to the generals what you have told me." Lexa said standing in the same spot as last time as was Clarke and the blonde did just that and once again Quint stepped up to disrupt it.

"This argument is a waste of time. It is simple, if they can't breathe our air, why not just open the door and be done with it? Let them burn." He said as the others agreed as Clarke remembered that was exactly what she did but wouldn't do it again if she could help it. She shook her head. "No, because they have a containment system. Multiple airlocks, just like the ones we had on the Ark. Our inside man can shut that down." She said like she did last time. "If he gets inside." Quint said and she stared at him. "He will." She said.

"What if we shut down from the outside? You say the dam gives them power. Let's take that away." Lexa said and Clarke looked at her. "If we did that, we would have a short break of time before the generator kicked in and the power went back. It's not a viable option yet." She said as Quint slammed his fist on the table once again and she sighed. "All she offers is no." He said looking at the Commander who looked at him. "Quint." She said in warning. "Apologies, Commander but the biggest army we've ever had waits for us to give it a mission. The longer that takes, the more of our people die inside that Mountain." He said to Lexa.

"I understand that, my people are inside that place as well." Clarke said to him. "We've lost thousands. How many have you lost, girl? She says she has a plan. I say that waiting for one man to get inside is not a very good one." He said and another general stepped up. "I agree with Quint. We have an army, let's use it." He said and Clarke was getting angry with what they were saying again and she lost it. "I mean, no disrespect but for how long has your army been getting their asses kicked by Mount Weather? Forever. And you know why? Because you can't even get close to them." She said getting the attention of everyone in the room.

"As soon as they see the movement of your army going for their doors like you two are suggesting we do, they will send out the acid fog, for days until every single one of your warriors are dead including you and then what? Who will rescue the people inside before they are all killed? Once Bellamy gets inside, and lower their defenses and shuts down the acid fog, we will use your big bad army. But I don't care how many men you have, if you can't get to your enemy, how do you expect to win? It's a matter of common sense." She said firmly and just as cue, there was he again. "You are the enemy." Quint said looking at her.

"I'm sorry, have I done something to offend you?" She said looking at him as he moved close to her and Murphy was about to move as well but she held up her hand, she could deal with him. "Yes, you burned my brother alive in a ring of fire." He said and she stared back at him. "I'm sorry but he attacked my ship. What was I supposed to do? Just let him kill my people? Is that what you do, surrender? Besides your people killed mine too. My friend was speared just because he crossed a river and you don't see me crying about it and threatening you because of it. We were at war." Clarke said firmly and continued,

"I won the battle and he lost, that's it. I'm sorry for your loss, truly I am but there is nothing else to be done about it. For everyone's sake, get over your hate for me so we can work to save those that are still alive." She said and he stepped closer to her. "You're very brave under the Commander's protection." He said and somehow even though she expected that answer from him, it made her angry how much he belittled her in front of the other generals and she didn't like that at all. She was Wanheda.

"Please. As if I need her protection to deal with the likes of you." She said scoffing angrily to him and he moved to attack her but she was faster than him and anticipated his move. She dodged his attack, twisted his arm, dislocating it having the room to grab the back on his neck and pull his head down, slamming it hard against the table, as he fell to the ground unconscious with blood dripping from the wound it made on his forehead and everyone else looked shocked at her, including Lexa as Clarke turned to look at them.

"My apologies gentlemen, shall we continue?"


	81. Bonding moments

Bonding moments

Clarke waited for everyone to recover from what they just saw her do to one of their fellow generals, she hadn't intended to attack Quint but his face and the memory of what he wanted to do to her just made her react that way and to be honest, she didn't regret it, now they all knew she wasn't a helpless little girl that came from the sky. "Where did you learn to do that?" Anya asked looking at her in surprise and somewhat with awe. "I used to train combat in the Ark with a friend but that is hardly important now,"

"What is important is that I understand your concern and complaints that waiting for Bellamy is a prayer and one you don't think will be heard, I get that. I really do. But I know him. I know he will come through, all we need to do is just to give him a chance otherwise we won't be able to fight the Mountain Men at all. One, because they control the acid fog. And two, they control the reapers. Without mentioning the weapons they have. If we face them like this, we will lose and that is not an option for any of us." Clarke said firmly looking at all of them.

"I believe in you." Anya said out loud and Clarke looked at her. "You were the first person to escape the Mountain and if you say Bellamy can do it, I will believe you." Anya said nodding at her and she nodded back. "Thank you. It's going to take Bellamy at least a day before he can make contact with us. In the meantime, instead of doubting him, we should plan what we will do once he succeeds and we can advance." Clarke said and the others nodded. "What do you suggest?" Lexa asked her and Clarke started explaining their plan. It was basically the same one as they had before and so the talks proceeded and ended with Quint still knocked out.

After the meeting was done, the two leaders and the generals started walking out of the place, and it was already getting dark and a little rain was coming down as Clarke turned to Lexa with a smile that Lexa didn't think she would like the meaning of it. "What do you think about a training session with me, Commander?" Clarke asked her and the generals smirked at her except Quint who had woken up and joined them after getting his wound checked by Nyko and was glaring at her but quiet about it this time.

Immediately, Lexa understood that this was what Clarke had meant earlier when she said she had an idea on what they could do and she smiled at the blonde girl. "I wouldn't want to hurt you and our alliance." She said joking and Clarke smiled taking off her jacket and smirked at her. "Don't tell me you're scared?" She said walking backwards and Lexa smirked. "Can I beat her up, Heda? I have been dying to do it." Anya said but Lexa shook her head and started removing her armor before following Clarke to a clearing as warriors started coming to watch.

"You shouldn't have done this." Lexa said to her smirking as she faced Clarke and the blonde smirked right back. "Let me be the judge of that besides we, sky people, need to learn right? Come on. I will not hurt you too much." She said and Lexa nodded before getting to position and they started to circle each other before Clarke made the first move and Lexa dodged as Clarke threw another punch and she dodged too before Lexa started giving it back and they started fighting, with the warriors cheering for them, and when Clarke or Lexa would dodge the attacks from the other, the cheering would grow louder.

Clarke knew that Lexa was holding back not to hurt her too much, though she has thrown Clarke to the ground a couple of times and the blonde was okay with it. It is not like she really wanted them to fight either but they were putting up a good enough show for the warriors. And as she started a series of attacks on Lexa who gave back as good as she was getting, the cheering was very loud and Clarke turned to look and saw Quint and that gave Lexa a chance to throw her down again but this time, Clarke reacted in time to bring Lexa down with her and change their positions so she was straddling the girl.

"I win." Clarke said looking down and Lexa smiled before holding her neck and with her leg, boosting them backwards changing their positions once again. "Not today." She said straddling the blonde and Clarke nodded as she looked at both of them covered in mud and dropping wet and smiled raising her hands in defeat. "Someday." She said and Lexa got up offering her hand to which Clarke took and was pulled to her feet. "Good fight." Lexa said to her and they were about to leave when Quint came forward. "I challenge the Sky Girl." He said as everyone turned silent and Lexa turned murderous as she stepped forward but Clarke held her back.

"Challenge me to what? You have to be more specific than that." She asked the warrior as she felt Lexa's eyes on her. "A fight." He said simply and she looked at Lexa and at Murphy before looking back at Quint and nodded. "I accept." She said as Lexa looked at her and Clarke knew she was worried. Not only because Clarke would be in a fight that was not with her and that was not done for fun but also because she almost got killed once by Quint, who was an experienced fighter but Clarke was different now than she was back then, she had training and she knew she could take on him, not unscathed but she could win.

Clarke looked at her girlfriend and tried to tell her to let her do this, that she could handle him, that she wanted to do this. She saw the moment Lexa understood it and nodded at her before turning to the man as Lexa had no other choice but to step back from the clearing as Murphy came to stand by her side. "Don't worry, she got this." He whispered to her as Lexa nodded and closely watched them circle each other. Unlike last time, Clarke was in no hurry of being the first one to attack so she waited for him to make the first move.

So Quint did it and she dodged it easily, as he attacked again and she dodged once more since she was smaller and faster. That was making him angry, which was exactly what she wanted. If he got angry, he would get sloppy and she would use that to win. He kept attacking and she kept dodging until he was able to punch her in the face, drawing blood and she got dizzy for a while as he punched her again and again and more blood was coming out and Lexa was about to intervene before Clarke was able to dodge one of his punches and threw one of her own and followed by a kick on the face and another one of the stomach.

The warriors were actually cheering for her and she didn't stop then. It was her time to throw punches, kicks, she even elbowed him in the face before he stopped her and picked her by the throat and threw her down on the ground hard before he raised his leg to hit her on the stomach, at the last minute, she rolled to the side but he straddled her and started chocking her and although, he had a strong grip, she was able to hit him on both ears and that made him let her neck go and she used the momentum to thrown him to the side, straddle him and thrown a serious of punches and he couldn't even stop them. He was all bloodied when she stopped sighing before standing up.

"The Sky Girl wins." Anya announced and everyone started cheering and Clarke coughed and spit out blood before she looked at Lexa and Murphy and smiled. She started walking towards them without realizing that Quint had gotten up, she only knew what was happening after he tackled her to the ground and grabbed his knife and raised it up. "For my brother." He said and before he could bring the knife down, he grunted in pain as a dagger stuck in his arm and she recognized as Lexa's dagger and he fell to the side and Clarke recognized the scene and she wondered if Lexa was going to ask her to kill him again.

But that question was answered really soon as Clarke saw Lexa walk up to him, pull the dagger out of his arm and use it to slit his throat in one swift movement and let his body fall to the ground spilling blood before turning to the others. " _You attack her, you attack me. Anyone who tries to kill Clarke or her friend will pay with their lives. They are our allies and our way to get our people from Mount Weather. I will not allow an attack on them while they are under my protection. Am I clear?"_ She said scarily and a choir of 'Sha Heda' followed and she turned to help Clarke get up and started helping her walk away before she came to Anya.

"Get rid of the body." Lexa said to the general. "He deserved it. He was dishonorable." Anya said to Clarke who nodded at her. "Thank you." Her voice was a little hoarse but she smiled at the woman anyway. "I'm sorry for the trouble. I didn't want this to happen. I'm sorry." Clarke said to everyone else. "Anya is right. Quint shouldn't have done that." A warrior said and others agreed and she smiled at them. "He was hurting, I understand and once again, I am sorry. I hope we can fight another time without the whole trying to kill me situation." She said and most of them chuckled before Lexa barked orders to them and pulled Clarke away.

Lexa brought the two of them to the house they were sharing and helped Clarke get settled and sat her down on the chair before she moved out to get some water and rags to clean her wounds and her face from the blood and the mud. Clarke just kept watching her, she knew her silence meant Lexa was both angry and worried and she knew she was to blame for that. "Lex." She called but the girl didn't look at her, didn't even acknowledge her so she stood up and went to her girlfriend and hugged her from behind making the older girl let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you like this." Clarke whispered hugging Lexa tighter who let out a sigh and shook her head in reaction to that before she spoke. "You should have said no. He could have killed you, Clarke. He would have killed you if I hadn't stepped in again. I knew he would try something and given the past, I know you knew he would too so what I can't understand is why." Lexa said before turning to face the blonde girl. "Why did you accept his challenge if you knew he was going to try to kill you?" she asked her and Clarke sighed.

"Because I need to earn your people's respect, Lexa. Not only for myself and for my people but also so that when they find out about us, they will be okay with it, at least the majority of them. I want them to think that I am good enough for you, to be by your side after this war is over." Clarke said hoarsely. "You are more than good enough for me, Clarke. I know you are more than good enough for me, why do you need them to think that when is not their opinion that matters? You don't have to fight my warriors and put yourself at risk, not for this,"

"Why do you care so much about their opinion?" Lexa asked her and Clarke sighed. "Because last time, Semet tried to kill you and Titus actually did it. Because they didn't accept me, us, my people and I don't want to put you in that position again. I want your people to be fine with us being together so you can be at peace and alive by my side." Clarke said and Lexa sighed before raising her hand and caressing the blonde's face as Clarke leaned her head into her touch as Lexa looked at her with nothing but love and understanding in her eyes.

"I will not let that happen again. I know exactly what I need to do and nothing is going to keep us apart, not this time. Trust me and stop putting yourself in danger. You don't have to prove anything to anyone. You love me and I love you, that is all my people needs to know and anyone who tries anything against you will die just like Quint because I will not lose you again. Especially not willingly. So no more pointless fighting, okay?" Lexa said to her and Clarke pouted. "But I like fighting. Not even a little?" She said pouting and Lexa sighed looking at her.

"You're not going to make this easier for me, are you my love?" Lexa said sighing and Clarke smirked before she started kissing Lexa's neck. "Now, why don't you come with me to take a bath while our clothes dry out?" she said and started pulling Lexa by the hand. "Clarke, your wounds…" Lexa said but not really resisting. "Will get cleaned in the bath." Clarke said and led them to the bathroom. It wasn't like the one Lexa had in Polis but it was way bigger than the one Clarke used on the Ark. The kisses started and clothes started flying around before Clarke undid Lexa's braids, quite quickly.

Soon, they entered the shower and the water started pouring down on them as their naked and wet bodies were joined together under the running shower. Lexa put Clarke against the wall and started kissing her neck while one hand grabbed her breast and the other grabbed her ass and Clarke could help but moan and scratch at Lexa's back with her nails in pleasure as the brunette put two finger inside of her at once and started thrusting fast as Clarke's moaned, scratched and soon enough the blonde came hard.

"Sex is really a talent of yours, isn't it?" Clarke said breathless as Lexa chuckled and kissed her. "I'm glad you think so." Lexa said to her. "Oh, I know so." Clarke said and they laughed as their kissed before Clarke pulled back and looked at Lexa right in the eyes. "I love you so much." She said sincerely and Lexa smiled bringing their lips close once again and whispering. "I love you even more." She kissed Clarke with passion and love and pulled them under the water again as they just continued to love and worship each other. It was quite a long bath and certainly much better than dealing with a hungry and scary gorilla chasing after them.

Definitely a lot of bonding happened that night.


	82. Him again

Him again

The next day, Clarke woke up in Lexa's arms. They had quite of a productive night and the only thing she could do was pull herself up a little and admire the girl who captured her heart. "You like to watch me sleep, don't you?" Lexa said without opening her eyes and Clarke smiled caressing her face. "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you." Clarke said and Lexa opened her eyes and looked at her. "Well, the feeling is mutual." She said and Clarke smiled. "I mean it. I never thought it was possible to love someone the way I love you." She said sincerely.

"Me neither, my love. After Costia died, I never thought I would feel anything for anyone much less feel something as big as what I feel for you. It's even bigger than what the word love can grasp." Lexa said sincerely and Clarke smiled before kissing her girlfriend. They stayed like that for quite some time before Clarke pulled back. "Babe, I need to go back to Arkadia." Clarke said and Lexa sighed, Clarke kissed her. "I know. I know. I wish I could stay here with you but I can't, remember? Today is the day we find Emerson." Clarke said and Lexa looked at her.

"Will you promise to be careful?" Lexa asked and Clarke smiled. "I will as long as you promise you will too." She said to her and Lexa nodded. "I promise." She said and Clarke kissed her again before pulling one of the covers with her and walking to where her clothes were. Luckily, they were clean and dry and she started putting them back on as Lexa watched from the bed. "You're beautiful." Lexa said smiling lovingly and Clarke finished putting her bra and looked back at her. "You're more." She said and Lexa shook her head. "I guess we will agree to disagree." Lexa said and Clarke smiled as she put on her shirt and grabbed her jacket.

She went back to the bed and sat down on the bed facing Lexa. "Baby, you know what will happen tomorrow. We need to stop it. I know we had to do it last time but this time, we need to do something. I can't let this place be blown up again." Clarke said and Lexa sighed before she threw the covers off of her and walked to her clothes as Clarke turned to her. "Neither can I. The last time, we did it because we had to make a last minute decision but this time, we hold the cards. But we need to do it in a way that won't compromise, Bellamy. He is still the key to this whole thing." Lexa said as she put on her pants and bra and Clarke nodded.

"So what do we do?" Clarke asked and Lexa looked at her. "We could kill the one of the ground and evacuate the people and give them false coordinates since they don't know where the village is, that way no one would die. We tell them that it worked. Without getting outside, they won't have a way to know that it didn't and that can guarantee that Bellamy will be able to disable the acid fog and the rest is up to him." Lexa said as she put on her shirt, coat and armor. "Do you think it could work?" Clarke asked hopefully and Lexa nodded her head.

"It has to." Lexa said and Clarke nodded. "Okay, I will take Murphy with me and tomorrow, I will send him back here with Kane. You can take them both with you through the way where we slipped off and you guys find the watcher and get Kane to speak, he sounds convincing and I will deal with Emerson." She said standing up and Lexa nodded. "We will save them this time, Clarke. I promise." She said and they hugged. Clarke sighed. "I hope we do, Lex. I hope we do." She said and they stayed like that together a few minutes more before Clarke pulled back to look at her girlfriend. Lexa looked back at her and frowned.

"What is it, my love? What is going on in the beautiful mind of yours? Can I know?" Lexa said caressing her face and kissing her cheek. "Lexa, there is something I need to talk to you about." Clarke said and Lexa pulled back noticing the seriousness on the blonde's voice. "Tell me." Lexa urged her and Clarke took a deep breath and started. "I want to talk about Mount Weather and the deal." Clarke said and Lexa tensed. "I thought this would come up at some point." Lexa said and pulled away from the hug sighing.

"Will you take the deal again if it comes down to it?" Clarke asked her and Lexa looked back at her and leaned against the small table there was. "I know you hated me for it, Clarke and it started the mistrust between our people but I hope you can understand why I did. When Emerson came to me, he had all the prisoners inside the Mountain at gun point. One word from me and they would be murdered at the spot. I know that my retreat forced you to kill more than 300 people but that deal helped me save 242 of my people." Lexa explained.

"So you will." Clarke said and Lexa shook her head. "Truth is I don't know. Leaving you there once broke me, broke us, I don't know if I could do it again but the thought of practically letting my people die just so that I can stay and help you save the Mountain Men and avoid forcing you to make a decision, please understand that it's not an easy decision." Lexa said and Clarke nodded. "I understand and though I wished I would never have to kill all of them again, if there is no other way, I will do it." Clarke said and Lexa lowered her head.

Clarke walked up to her and cradled her face in Lexa's face in her hands and lifted it up so she could look at her. "If our plan doesn't work and we find ourselves in that situation, which I pray we don't, you save your people and I will save mine. And no matter what happens after it, we will find each other again and be together. I can deal with pulling that lever again, it will be painful and it may eat me up again but what I cannot deal with it is losing you again. I love you and deal or not deal, we will spend our lives together. You understand?" Clarke said firmly.

Lexa just looked at her in awe. "Deal or not deal, I promise that I will come back for you." Lexa said. It might be risky but she would do it for Clarke. Her life, she could risk it, but her people's she couldn't. "If I had to retreat my army, I will send Indra with them and I will come back to join, consequences be damned. I will be there for you if you will have me." Lexa said and Clarke was not expecting that. "Wouldn't it be dangerous for you?" Clarke asked and Lexa nodded. "Yes, a little but I can handle that." Lexa said and Clarke shook her head.

"No, I don't want you to come if it will put you at risk. I can deal with it, Bellamy and Octavia will be there. We can handle it again. I cannot be the reason why you're in danger." Clarke said and Lexa shook her head. "I'm the Commander. I'm always in danger, my love. And you need to have more faith in me. if we win, which we will, they might question the fact that I went back on my word but the news that I helped defeat our enemies would overwhelm those thoughts so I will be safe." Lexa said convincingly.

"Besides, I am thankful for Bellamy and your friends for trying to share the burden with you but we both know that you wouldn't let them do it again. You wouldn't let Bellamy pull that lever with you. You wouldn't want to put him through that again but I can do it. I can shoulder that burden with you. I can pull the lever for you. And I will, if we have to. If things go wrong, I may not be able to save the Mountain Men but I will save you from that." Lexa said firmly and Clarke felt a tear roll down her face.

"You have no idea how much I love you." Clarke said and Lexa smiled. "Yes, I think I do." The brunette said and Clarke kissed her passionately, trying to convey all of her feelings. Lexa knew her too well, she wouldn't let Bellamy pull it with her again and Lexa was offering to take full on that burden for herself to spare Clarke the pain of doing it. Lexa pulled back from the kiss. "Let's just hope that this is unnecessary talk. That our plan will work and we will not have to do any of this." Lexa said and Clarke smiled at her.

"Yeah, you're right. Raven will be able to destroy the dam and we will get inside and free everyone as well as save the innocent and our people will not hate each other and you and I will be able to be together quite soon." Clarke said and Lexa agreed. "Of course. Now, you really should get going, my love. You need to capture your Mountain Man and I need to kill mine." Lexa said to her and Clarke nodded. They finished getting ready and gathering what they needed before they walked outside of the house.

Lexa called a few warriors and gave them orders to obey whatever Clarke said as if she was Lexa herself and to relay the message to Indra and the others who were inside the Sky People's camp helping them train. They nodded as Clarke waited and once it was done, they looked at each other and Lexa extended her arm and Clarke grabbed it. "Safe trip." Lexa said and Clarke nodded. "Thank you." She said and pulled back before mounting her horse and turning around galloping away. This time her mom wasn't with her, luckily she knew exactly what to do.

It was about a couple of hours before she came to the exact clearing as before and she stopped the horse and so did the others. "I need a little water and a break, let's stop here." She said and got down of her horse and opened her bottle and grabbed a little before turning to the guards and warriors. "Our scouts patrol these woods. Be careful where you shoot." She said and drank a little as Murphy came to her. "What are we doing here?" He whispered and she looked at him. "Waiting for our prey." She said and delayed them a little before she turned to them. "Let's go." She got on her horse and suddenly, a gunshot was fired and the grounder behind her was hit.

She looked at Murphy. "See?" She whispered to him and he smirked at her shrugging before she started her horse in the direction where the shot came from and soon enough she was faced the same scene as before. "Octavia, stop. He's from Mount Weather. We need him alive. Check to see if he's got a patch kit." She said and the warrior with Indra went to hold him down as Octavia went to check on his bag and Clarke waited and saw Octavia find the photos. "What is that?" She asked and the girl came to her. "Clarke, you and Lexa were the targets." She said giving her the photo.

"We need to warn the Commander." Clarke said and Indra nodded. " _Send our fastest riders to TonDC. Now."_ She said and Clarke got down from her horse and went to check his bag and found the kit. She told the warrior to turn him over and she started patching up the suit. Once she was done, she told him to get him to Arkadia. He nodded and grabbed the man. She went up her horse and galloped down and got the other warriors to bring the one that was hit put him on her horse and in a matter of 5 minutes, she arrived at Arkadia.

"Get my Mom and Jackson and stretchers now." She yelled and the guards opened the gates as she came through on her horse as she waited for the others to come and soon enough her mom and Jackson joined her along with the stretcher and helped the grounder into one of them as Clarke got down and took the other stretcher to help with Emerson and then they were both broth inside to the new MedBay. "Jackson, there are two patients. Take care of the radiation burns, I will deal with the bullet wound." Abby said as everyone moved around.

"I need blood. O neg. A lot." Abby said to someone and Clarke talked to Jackson. "This guy is from Mount Weather. I need him alive." She said as they adjusted him. "There is a tear in the suit but I fixed it on the field." Clarke said as Raven once again came to her side. "Anything from Bellamy?" she asked and Raven shook her head. "Nothing. O is there." Raven said and Clarke nodded. "Good, stay with him. You know what to do." Clarke said before she went to help her mom with the other one.

Charlotte came in and grabbed the bag of blood and rushed to plug it in and to connect on his veins as she put pressure on the wound. "Mom, we are going to lose him. Hey, sis." Clarke said and the girl smiled as the three of them started working as fast as they could to help him while Raven gave the directions on how to deal with Emerson. Luckily between the three Griffin women, they were able to save the guy enough for her Mom to perform surgery on him to remove the bullet and Clarke patched him up. It took them about a few hours but they did it.

Clarke hugged Charlotte once they finished their part and their mom finished. "Hey, I missed you." Clarke said hugging the girl tight and she did the same. "I missed you too. Mom and Dad said you were going to stay with the Grounders." She said and Clarke smiled. "After Bellamy lowers the acid fog then I won't be coming back until it's over but until then, I will be here and go there if needed." Clarke explained and Charlotte nodded. "Mom said I am a better student than you were." Charlotte said and Clarke smiled.

"She's right. I would usually snuck out of helping her to go paint with Wells or something like that. And one day you will be ever better than Mom. Chief Doctor Charlotte Griffin. Has a nice ring to it." Clarke said and they smiled before Abby walked out and joined them. "Sweetie, why don't you go help Jackson keep an eye on the patient?" Abby said to Charlotte and she nodded looking at Clarke. "I will see you soon." She said and the girl smile before entering the room as the two of them started on their way to where Emerson was taken.

"Clarke, honey. What happened?" Abby asked as Clarke kept walking. "The Mountain Men know about the alliance and want to kill me and Lexa to stop it but they failed." She explained and Abby grabbed her hand and made her look at her. "Are you okay?" She asked and Clarke nodded. "I am, mom. I promise. Someone already went to warn Lexa and we will both be fine. Now, we need to go check on that man. I promise I am fine." She gave her Mom a kiss on the cheek and a hand squeeze before they arrived where Emerson was already awake and Jaha, Kane and her Dad were there.

"Answer the question." Jaha said as Clarke went to check on his things. "Carl Emerson. Mount Weather security detail." He said as Clarke checked on the photos before grabbing the reaper device. "You attacked one of our own and we still saved your life. Why don't you help us?" Jaha said and he leaned forward and repeated the same answer and Jaha cut out the communication with him. "He is not going to talk." Clarke said and they looked at her. "Clarke is right. It's pointless." Kane said and she smiled at him.

"We could get him to talk if we threatened to open the door." Jaha said and Jake shook his head. "We can't just torture him, Thelonious." He said and the man looked at him. "How else can we get any useful information, Jake?" he said and his friend looked at him. "Not by torture. We don't do this." Abby said and he sighed. "Maybe not. But the grounders certainly do and they will gladly help us make him talk." He said. "Truth is we don't need him to talk at all." Clarke said. "Why do you say that?" Jake asked.

"I have an idea on how we can use him but first I need to go check on Raven and the radio see if Bellamy has made contact already. Just keep him alive and guarded 24/7 and we will be able to use him to our advantage and against his own people. Kane, can you do that?" She asked and he nodded. "Yes, I can." He said and she nodded. "Good, I will check on you later." She said and turned and walked away. The plan she and Lexa came up with was a risky one but she had faith it would work. It had to.


	83. Message pigeon

Message pigeon

Clarke went directly to Raven's workshop. "Hey." She said and moved to hug the girl. "Hi. You okay? What happened to your face?" The mechanic asked and Clarke pulled back from the hug and sighed. "I am, despite what is happening. And this was a vengeful warrior who tried to kill me but I'll tell you everything later. You?" She asked and Raven nodded. "I'm good. It's definitely nice not to have a painful crippled leg." She said and they smiled before Clarke gave the girl the reaper device. "Work your magic, Ray." Clarke said and the girl smiled. "How is our boy?" Raven asked talking about Emerson and Clarke smirked. "He will be fine and running back to his people in a few." Clarke said to her and Raven smiled.

"What I am worried about is what comes next." Clarke said out loud and Raven nodded sitting down. "Do you have a plan?" she asked the blonde and Clarke nodded. "We do. A risky one but if it works, it will be much better than last time." Clarke said and they looked at each other. "I can't wait for this to be over." Raven said and Clarke sighed. "You're telling me that?" She said and they chuckled. "And what about you two? How are things going?" Raven asked and Clarke smiled as she went to sit in front to Raven with a smile on her face. "It's great. I can't even begin to tell you what it means to have her again. It's the best feeling in the world." Clarke said and Raven smiled.

"Did you talk to her about the deal?" Raven asked and Clarke nodded sighing. "I did and her answer was something I already expected which it is that if we were to find ourselves in the same situation that she would take the deal because if she doesn't all of her people inside the Mountain will die." Clarke said and Raven whistled. "Woah. That must have not been an easy conversation then." Raven said worriedly and Clarke shook her head. "Surprisingly, it was. Despite that, Lexa did promise that this time she would come back for me." Clarke explained.

"Are you sure you are okay with it? Are you okay with her betraying us again?" Raven asked not accusingly but more curious. "Yes, I understand why she would say that and you know why?" Clarke asked and Raven shook her head, "Because if it comes to it, I know I will destroy the Mountain again." Clarke said and raven seemed to understand now what her friend was talking about. "Believe me, it is not a decision either one of us wants to do it but if we have no other choice, we will have to make them and deal with the burden of those choices but what is important is that we agreed that no matter what, we will stick together." Clarke said and raven smiled at her friend.

"Well, I can only say that I'm happy for you, that you have found someone that is prepared and wants to share your burdens. I wish that the same can happen with me and Luna if we get to that point." The mechanic said and Clarke smiled at her. "I know it will and as soon as this is over, I will figure out a way to get the two of you together and boom. Done. You got your girl as I got mine." Clarke said and she sighed. "Hopefully. I also can't wait for that to happen." She said and Clarke nodded just as they heard Octavia's voice as she came inside the room and Clarke stood up and went to her side. "Raven, any word from Bellamy?" she asked and Raven looked at her. "Nothing yet." Raven said and the girl sighed.

"Lincoln is missing too. He should be back by now." She said frustrated and Clarke squeezed her arm. "They will be okay." Clarke said and Raven nodded. "Totally. He will be back before you know it. Cross my heart and hope to die." Raven said and Clarke smiled as they heard the speakers. "Clarke Griffin. Please report to the south airlock, immediately." Clarke sighed and looked at her friends. "We'll finish this later. Ray, the devices. As many as you can do." She said and the girl nodded, she turned to Octavia and hugged her. "They are fine. Trust me." Clarke said and left the room and went back to where Emerson was being held.

Everyone was there waiting for her. "Hey. What is it? Did he talk?" She asked and her mother looked at her. "No but his blood did. Jackson found genetic marker anomalies that can only come from someone who was born on the Ark." Abby explained and Clarke nodded. "It's started. The bone marrow transfusion. Cage has finally done it." She said to them out loud. "Who is Cage?" Jaha asked her and she looked at him. "He is their president's son. He is responsible for that area of work as well as the creation of the Reapers. He would be willing to do anything to get everyone of his people out of that Mountain so he must be the one doing this. He is very dangerous and completely unreasonable." Clarke explained to them.

"So what do we do now?" Her father asked and she shook her head. "We can't do anything until we make contact with Bellamy, the whole plan depends on him. But I have faith in him, all he needs is a little more time. They may have started bleeding my friends but I know they will not be going down without a fight. Jasper and Monty will take care of them so we have some time still." Clarke said and Kane came to her side. "Do you really think that?" he asked her and she nodded. "I do. I know them and I believe in them. I will be at Raven's workshop if you need anything from me, okay?" She said to them and they nodded before she walked away and went back to check on Raven who she found working on the devices.

"And? Same as before?" The mechanic asked her and Clarke nodded. "Pretty much. Now all we need to do is wait for Bellamy to get to the damn radio already." She said a little stressed and Raven looked at her. "Hey, I know that it is hard and a lot of pressure but you're doing great so far. We have saved and will save more people than we did last time and it will turn out for the better, thanks to you. Try to relax a little." Raven said and Clarke nodded. "I know. I'm trying but knowing what is coming tomorrow, being away from her, not being able to help Bellamy inside, everything is just pilling up and I'm afraid I'm going to explode one of these days." Clarke said sadly and Raven smiled.

"I feel the same way but then I just come here and start working and the stress usually leaves so why don't you try painting while we wait or something to channel the stress out of your system?" Raven said to her and Clarke chuckled. "I think fighting would be a better way to relieve that stress." Clarke said and they both chuckled just as Bellamy's voice came through the radio. "Arkadia, this is Mount Weather. Can anyone read me?" he said and Clarke quickly moved to the radio. "Bellamy?" she asked him. "Clarke?" She heard his voice and she sighed.

"Are you all right?" She asked him, his safety was one of her primary concerns. "I'm fine. That's it for the good news. We have to talk fast. Something has changed. Jasper, Monty, everyone, they just locked them in their dorm." He said explaining and she nodded even though he couldn't see her. "But they're alive?" She asked him. "I think so for now. Maya says that they're already using their blood and things are going to get ugly in here real fast." He said. "It's not blood they are taking, it's their bone marrow. It's the only way for the treatment to be permanent and to supply the Mountain, they would have to kill all of our friends to do it which is why you need to hurry, Bell. They don't have much time." She said to him.

"Is Maya with you?" She asked him. "She helped me escape. If not for her, I'd be dead and Clarke, there are kids in here. We need a plan that doesn't kill everyone. Please tell me we have one." He said to her. "We do but we are stuck as long as the acid fog isn't disabled. Raven is going to help you but you need to try and work as fast as you can, Bell." She said to him. "I got it. What else?" he asked. "The Trojan Horse that we talked about? Can you do it?" She asked. "It's not going to be a problem. Look, if I am going to pull this off, I need you to buy me some time. It won't be long before they realize I don't belong here, and if that happens,…" he was saying to her but she interrupted him.

"That can't happen and don't worry, I already have something prepared for that and you came through. I knew you would." She said to him. "All I've done so far was to not get killed." He said to her. "Keep doing that and we will win this war and our friends back." She said and gave it to Raven. "You're up. Trying to get him to the acid fog room as fast and as discreetly as possible and I will dispatch Emerson." Clarke said and Raven nodded. "Good luck." She said and Clarke smiled. "To all of us. We need it." She said before she left the room and went through the station until she got outside and went straight to the group of grounders.

"Come with me. I need help with something." She said to them and they stood up and followed her back to the station and walked with her to the south airlock. The guard went to grab his gun but she shook her head. "Don't even try it. I'm really not in the mood for heroism." She said to him and he stopped his actions before she came to stand in front of the glass and looked at Emerson. "Put on your suit. You're coming with me." She said to him and he pulled back from the door and went to get dressed. "What is going on?" Octavia asked her and she looked at her friend. "I will explain everything later. Promise." She said before turning her attention back to him as he finished getting ready.

She looked at the guard. "Open it." She said and he did as she asked and opened the door. "You try anything funny and I will let them play with you. Got it?" She said motioning to the Grounders and Emerson looked at them before nodding at her. "Good. Now come." She said and turned and started walking and he was pushed to follow her as the grounders flanked him on all sides and they walked out of the station once again. As they walked through the Station, Clarke could see everyone looking at her and she held her head high and firmly before once again, she was stopped, only this time by her parents and Jaha while Kane only watched.

"What do you think you are doing with the prisoner, Clarke?" Jaha asked her in his Almighty Chancellor voice and she just looked at him. "I am letting him go." She said absentmindedly. "Absolutely not." Abby said to her. "He hasn't told us anything yet, kid." Jake said agreeing with his wife and Clarke nodded. "I know. He doesn't have to. He is going to tell them something for me." Clarke said to her parents. "Get the prisoner back to airlock. Now." Jaha said and the guards made a move to step forward but the grounders stepped up too letting them know they were following Clarke's orders. "What is the meaning of this? Stand down." Jaha said to the grounders. "No." Indra said to him and Clarke spoke.

"You may be Chancellor, Jaha but it's time you realize and accept that I'm in charge here so get the hell out of my way before I make my way through you." She said fiercely and stared at him. "People can get hurt, Clarke." Her mother said trying to calm her down. "Not if he gets out of my way. It's time for you to trust that I know what is right for us." Clarke said and stared him down. "Sir, let her through. If the grounders trust Clarke, maybe we should too." Kane whispered to him. Jaha looked at him and back to Clarke and to the people around them and sighed. "Stand down." He said and the guards put down their weapons and Clarke walked past him and ordered the guards to open the gates and they did it.

She walked Emerson all the way there as the grounders brought him in front of her as they had moved past the gates by a little. "Do you hear me all right? Because I need you to get this message without missing a word." She said to him and he sighed. "Loud and clear." He said and she nodded. "My message is for your president. We're coming for him and there will be no mercy once I get my hands on him." She said in a scary tone of voice. "You've been watching us but you haven't seen anything. The grounder army is bigger than you think and they are all thirsty for your blood." She said to him.

"Even if you could find it, your acid fog couldn't hurt them and now thanks to you, neither can the reapers." She said turning on the device as he looked at it and back at her. "You have one last chance to do the right thing and let our people go and we'll let you live. It's just that simple." She said to him and he nodded. "I got it." He said to her and she grabbed the oxygen pump on his suit. "It's an eight hour walk to Mount Weather." She started letting out the air. "You're going to do it in 6." She said and closed it back.

"6 hours? That's not enough. How do you expect me to deliver your message?" He asked and she smirked at him. "That's your problem, I certainly don't give two shits how you do it. Move." She said and he started walking as she watched before the gates started closing and Octavia called her name and she turned to her. "You want to explain to me how this helps my brother?" Octavia asked her.

"By telling them about a secret army, I just made us bait. The more they are looking at us, the less they will be looking at him. Bellamy is the key to winning this war, Octavia. Without him, we lose. And this just might guarantee our win so relax and trust that this is exactly the help Bellamy needs right now." Clarke said and walked away as the grounders followed her.


	84. Message delivered

Message delivered

It was already morning of the next day when Clarke woke up from a deep sleep, luckily without nightmares and she looked to the body on top of her and smiled. After the whole Emerson thing and a well-deserved break of dealing with Bellamy inside the Mountain, Charlotte practically glued herself to Clarke's side and stayed there so with a push from Raven, she left to give her little sister a bit of her time so they went to her room and talked about everything that was happening, Clarke's experience in the grounder camp and they ended up falling asleep together.

She smiled since she was happy she could keep Charlotte out of all this mess. She was too young to be dealing with all of this. The best thing was for her to stay here on the Ark where she was safe. Her friends would be another story. Clarke knew they will want to help and she is already dreading it. She knew it was time to get up so she pulled herself away gently and managed to get out of the room without waking the sleeping girl. Ryder, the bodyguard Lexa assigned to her was waiting outside of the door and followed her as she made her way to Raven's workshop where Murphy was already there waiting for her.

"Wait outside, Ryder." She said to her guard and he nodded before she went in and closed the door behind her. "And sleeping beauty finally awakes. I wonder which prince or better, which grounder Commander gave her the waking kiss?" Murphy said teasingly and Clarke scoffed. "Shut up, Murphy. He didn't check in yet?" She talked to Raven about Bellamy and she shook her head. "Not yet, but we know he will so we're waiting. In the meantime, we were checking the dam. This time I need to make sure we bring five bombs and even maybe one more just in case." Raven said to her as Clarke joined them by the table. "And try to get away from the blast this time." Clarke said joking and Raven nodded smiling at her.

"Thanks to our previous knowledge of the unfolding events, I have been scrounging out for parts before we even found Emerson and sent Wick to do the same and as of now. We have 7 tone generators, 10 with the ones I am finishing right now." Raven said motioning to the generators Murphy and she were finishing and Clarke nodded at the information. "This will definitely help us." She said looking at the finished ones. "It's easier to do something when you already know that you need to do it and how to do it." Raven said and the other two nodded.

"Raven was telling me that the bomb in TonDC is supposed to go off today." Murphy asked her lowly and Clarke nodded. "Lexa and I have a plan to stop it and you are a part of it but first…" she said as if in cue, the radio came alive with Bellamy's voice and Clarke went to it. "You're late. Every three hours means exactly that, Bellamy. Don't they have clocks there? Have you found the acid fog?" She said even though she already knew the answer. "No. That is gonna have to wait." He said to her. "Why? What happened?" She asked as she looked at the other two, already expecting what he was about to say to her.

"They are starting to take our friends from the dorm one at time every few hours." He said worriedly and she nodded. "It must be a secret room where they can take their bone marrow." Clarke said to him. "We tried following them but they went to a classified level. Maya borrowed the schematics of the vent system from her boss, and I'm still trying to find a way in." he said and she nodded. "Anything?" he asked Maya. "I think I found a path but it's going to be tight. Here's the walkie Raven asked for and the earbud." Maya's voice came through.

"Bellamy, you have to find them." Clarke said to him. "That's the plan." He said and she nodded. "Okay, try the way Maya said she found, Raven will be here to help you. I will be right back." She said and put down the speaker. "Murphy, come with me." Clarke said to him and he nodded before following her as did Ryder until she came to where she expected Kane to be as she asked him to meet them for his mission and he was there. "Stay outside, please." Clarke said to Ryder and he nodded before she closed the door. "Clarke, what is going on?" He asked as she came closer to him as did Murphy.

"The bomb is supposed to drop in TonDC today. Lexa and I have a plan to avoid that. It's not perfect but it's better than the alternative so pay attention." She said to them and they nodded, both listening attentively. "To launch the missile the need a spotter, someone to be their eyes and ears on the ground, someone to give them the coordinates to aim the missile. His name is Whitman. Last time, when Lexa and I escaped the blast, we went to find him but it was too late. It is not too late this time." She said and they seemed to be understanding. "You want us to find him?" Murphy asked her and she shook her head. "No, I want you to kill him." She said firmly and they looked at each other.

"Look, last time we met him, he was away to escape the blast but he will be close to TonDC to check to see if all the targets, mainly Lexa and I, are there. I need you to go to TonDC, find Lexa and get away from the village, find him and kill him. Then, I need for you, Kane to pretend to be him and give the Mountain false coordinates of somewhere far away from the village, somewhere there won't be any casualties. Lexa will help you with that, then once they launched it and TonDC is safe, you tell them that it was a success. It will serve us as it did last time without so many pointless deaths." Clarke finished explaining and Murphy nodded.

"I'm in. We had this second chances to save as many lives as we can and if killing this bastard will do that, I will shoot him myself." Murphy said and Kane sighed. "I hate to say it but I agree with Murphy, on life for hundreds." He said to her and to himself and Clarke nodded. "Exactly. Thank you for understanding. But avoid giving the information too soon, let it happen at the same time. Got it?" she said to Kane and he nodded. "And please, keep Lexa safe for me. I can't have anything bad happening to her." She asked them and they smiled. "We will. Don't worry. Now, let us get going. We have quite the mission ahead of us." Kane said to her and she nodded before hugging both of them and saying goodbye before leaving the room.

She was stopped on her way back to Raven's workshop by Wells and Finn. "Hey, you have been back but we didn't have a chance to talk to you yet." Wells said to her and she sighed hugging him tightly before pulling back and giving Finn a brief hug. "And to be honest with you, I still can't. Bellamy is trying to find our friends and I need to go help him but as soon as I can, we will talk. I promise but right now it's just not the best time for that. I'm sorry, guys." She said and Wells shook his head. "It's okay, we understand how busy you are, leading everything. Just know we want to help if we can." He said to her and she smiled at him.

"You will but right now, Raven needs me to help her so I have to go." She said and hugged him and Finn briefly again and she made to move past them before Finn called for her and she turned to look at him. "What is it?" She asked him and he sighed at her before speaking. "I'm not angry with you and I hope we can still be friends." He said to her and she smiled. "I'm glad to hear that and I will always want to be your friend, Finn." She said to him and he nodded before letting her go back to Raven's and turned around to follow Wells outside and she was glad they seem to be becoming friends. Perhaps Wells could be a good influence on Finn.

She walked back to Raven's workshop to find her speaking with Bellamy. Ryder stayed outside once again and Clarke went to the mechanic's side and Raven gave her the radio to speak with him. "He just started moving." Raven explained to the blonde and Clarke nodded as they started to walk him through what they already knew from the vent systems from the previous time, they couldn't give him the full path because it would look suspicious since neither one of them have been there but they tried the same approach as last time and since it worked then, it should work now as well.

It took about an hour before they knew he was close to where their friends were and Clarke hoped it was enough time for Murphy and Kane to get to TonDC and start on their mission before a disaster happened to those people again. "Ok, tell us where you're at now." Raven said to him. "I'm in an intersection. Which way should I go?" He asked them and Clarke turned off the radio. "Just give him some seconds and he will hear the drills." Raven said to her friend and Clarke nodded before speaking. "Bellamy, we think you're close. The lab should be up ahead." She said like the last time and waited.

"Any chance you can be more specific?" he said before they heard him. "Never mind. I got this." He said and they smiled as soon as they heard the drill, this was it. "Is that a drill?" Raven asked. "We were right. It's bone marrow extraction." Clarke said as they continued listening. "You're ready for the last treatment you will ever need, Lieutenant?" They heard the doctor say. "You have no idea. I waited my whole life to breathe fresh air." Emerson said to him. "That's Emerson." Clarke spoke on the radio for Bellamy to hear.

"Let's get back to this secret army that she claims to have. She told you anything that might help us find it?" Cage asked the man and Clarke mouthed his name to Raven who nodded also recognizing his voice as they heard more drills. "Stop drilling, please." Cage said to the doctors. "The window for extraction after death is incredibly short." The doctor said to him and Clarke closed her eyes. One more she couldn't save. "I only need one minute." Cage said. "No sir. Nothing about the army. She did say she was coming for you and that if we let her people go, she'll let our people live." Emerson said as they listened.

"It's a little late for that." Cage said. "I'm sorry I failed, sir." Emerson said. "No, it's ok. We'll finish the job tonight. Whitman just radioed in. Apparently there's a war council meeting happening tonight in one of their villages, and all the leaders are gonna be there." Cage said as they listened. "Sir, I feel good. Let me take a team out and support Whitman." Emerson said. "No, he has less chance of being spotted if he is alone." Cage said to him as Clarke had hoped he would. "Sir, Whitman's good but he can't take out that many targets alone." Emerson said.

"Which is why we're gonna use a missile. This time, we're not gonna miss." Cage said to him and Bellamy got out of there. "Please tell me you heard all that." He said to them and Clarke spoke. "We heard it." Clarke said to him and Raven looked at her. "Do you think they already got there and dealt with it?" Raven asked and Clarke nodded at her. "Probably but I should be going there to check. The two of you, keep working on the acid fog and try to find our friends." Clarke said the last part on the radio. "Go." Raven said to her. "Clarke, wait. Octavia was in TonDC when I left. Is she…?" Bellamy asked her and like last time, she lied.

"She's here. She's safe." She said to him and Raven sighed. "Ok. Good. Be safe, you too." He said to her. "I will." She said back to him and turned off the channel. "Do not let him know that she is there. If Lexa's plan doesn't work, he can't know this time around." Clarke said to the mechanic and Raven nodded. "Don't worry. This time I will keep my mouth shut." She said to her friend and they hugged. "Good luck." Raven said to the blonde and Clarke nodded. "To you too." Clarke said and pulled back. She grabbed a bag and put the tone generators inside it.

Clarke walked to the door and looked back at Raven. "See you in the end, Reyes." She said to her and Raven smiled. "See you in the end, Griffin." The mechanic said and Clarke smiled before walking out. "Ryder, let's go." She said to the big guy and the grounder followed her as she passed by her Mom, Dad and Charlotte and said goodbye to them before getting on her horse and riding away to TonDC with hope that their plan has worked and that there wouldn't need to let 250 people die again.


	85. Problem solved

Problem solved

Lexa was finishing greeting the delegation from the Lake People when she saw Kane and Murphy coming into the village and she knew it was time to put her plan in motion so she waited for them to get down from their horse and walk up to her and she greeted them. "I'm glad you are here, Marcus Kane and John Murphy of the Sky people. Where is Clarke?" She asked Kane and he nodded at her. "Clarke stayed in Arkadia a bit longer. Bellamy made contact and they are making sure everything is okay. Could we speak in private, Commander?" Kane asked and she nodded before motioning for them to follow her.

She knew that whatever they wanted to talk to her about could not be heard by anyone else as it would be part of the plan that Clarke and she came up with it to take care of the missile and the man responsible for it. So they walked for a few paces as Marcus and Murphy looked around the village, the former thinking about the destruction the missile caused it, the many loves that were lost thanks to the Mountain and the latter thinking about how different these people seemed from the ones Finn had massacred when they had been here looking for Clarke, they seemed happier, freer. They were both really glad that those things didn't happen.

They went inside the place where Clarke told her about the missile, the meeting place. "So what has Clarke told you?" she asked directly once they were safe from prying ears. "She explained the plan. She also warned us that the spotter, Whitman, should be close to the village so he can see what is happening. She told us to get you and go kill him and take his radio so we can control the missile." Murphy said to her and she nodded. "I thought it would be like that so I have been discreetly looking at the woods and I am almost sure I know where he is." Lexa said to them and the men looked at each other before looking back at her.

"How do you know that?" Murphy asked her and she looked at him and explained. "Any Trikru knows these woods like the back of their hand and when you know what to look for, there is little that can be hidden from us. Besides, Becca may have given me a few directions on where to look and she appears to be satisfied with the changes we have done so far." She said to them and they nodded accepting her answer. "That's good to know." Kane said to her and she nodded. "So what do we do now?" Murphy asked both of them and she sighed before turning to the two men in front of her.

"Murphy, you come with me as backup. Kane, you stay here. The less of us that go out, the more the chances we will have to surprise him." She said to them as she removed her shoulder pad and sword and put on top of the table and they nodded. "Come on." She said to the younger guy and Murphy nodded as he followed her through the secret passage she used with Clarke the last time. Just before they got to the woods, she turned to him. "Stay close and make no sound. Clear?" she said to him and he nodded. "Crystal." He said and she nodded.

The woods were her home, as any Trikru, she knew how to walk swiftly through them even if it had been dark and luckily for all of them, Murphy actually wasn't making much noise, at least not enough to trigger the attention of Mountain Men, however if it was Trikru they needed to catch, that would be a different story completely. Like she instructed, he was quite close to her and Lexa quietly and quickly moved towards where she believed the spotter was, following the soft guidance of the Flame and of Becca and luckily for her, there he was.

So she hid behind a tree motioning for Murphy to position himself in the tree next to hers which he did, and waited for the man which she knew to be named Whitman to finish radioing his people since they needed to hear his voice so they wouldn't think there was a problem. Then, as she looked at him again, Lexa saw him raising a device to his face, it seemed like something to see better and that was the cue she needed to make her move so she quickly, in a matter of seconds, moved to stand behind him, grabbed his mouth and with her dagger, slit his throat and stopped him from moving.

He tried to escape and tried to attack her but she had him in a tight grip, there was no way he was getting out, all she had to do was wait and within a few moments, he died. She knew she needed to be sure that he died so she broke his neck, just for precaution. She called for Murphy who quickly came to her side. "That was badass." He said to her and she gave him everything she could find with the man. "We need to take all of it. It could be important." She said to him and he nodded grabbing everything, every little device the guy had with him and putting it on his back pack where he found a sniper rifle. "This could come in handy." He said.

"Go and take all of this to Kane, he must know what to do. I will get rid of the body." She said and moved to pull it away but he stopped her and he shook his head. "No, we have to take him with us. We will probably need it for our cover story that we tell your people, it could help them believe in Bellamy of they could see how his information helped us avoid a massacre." Murphy said to her and she seemed to think about it and could see that he had a point so she nodded at him. "Okay, then let's go." She said and he nodded before picking the body together as they made their way back inside the place where Kane was waiting.

"And?" He asked them as soon as he saw Murphy's back and they sighed as they finished coming through the small door. "It's done." Lexa said as they dropped the body near the table and Kane sighed looking at it. "Okay, did you bring his stuff?" he asked them and Murphy gave him the bag and the radio and Kane sorted everything out the way Raven had explained to him, implementing the device that would give them a false view of TonDC. "OK. What now?" Lexa asked him as she looked at the devices lay out in front of them. "What did he do before you killed him?" Kane asked both of them. "He radioed his people." Lexa answered his question and he nodded.

"That's good, that's very good. Now, I need you to tell me where we can aim the missile." He said to her. She had already somewhere in mind for this part of the plan and so she started telling him and showed him the coordinates of the place where they could aim the missile. "There is no one living anywhere near this place for miles in every direction. It should be safe to aim there without any casualties." She explained to both of the men and Kane nodded at her. "And now? What do we do?" Murphy asked him as Kane picked up the radio.

"Now, we act. Whitman to Mount Weather command. Final target has landed. All targets accounted for." He said on the device trying to sound like someone from the Mountain would and waited. "Copy that. Standing by for the president." Someone said and they sighed in relief. "It worked." Murphy said to him and Kane nodded. "For now. I have to stay here for when they make contact again but the two of you can go outside. The clan leaders are arriving, they need their Commander and you can wait for Clarke." Kane said to them and they nodded before Lexa put on her shoulder pad and sword back and walked outside of the place as did Murphy.

Lexa continued with her work with the clan leaders, welcoming them and their delegations and waited for any news. "I really hope this work." Murphy said as he stood by her side and Lexa nodded. "It has to." She said to him and he nodded and about an hour later, finally Clarke arrived and looking much calmer than she did last time. "Clarke of the Sky People has honored us with her presence." Lexa said as a joke and Clarke smiled. "I'm sorry, traffic was tough. Is everything okay here?" She asked them and both Lexa and Murphy understood the question and nodded. "Yes, everything is more than fine." Lexa said to her and Clarke sighed in relief.

"Good. Can we talk?" Clarke asked her girlfriend and Lexa nodded before leading her to the house they were sharing and as soon as they got to the living room, Clarke grabbed Lexa and kissed her for quite a while before pulling back and looking at her. "I missed you." Clarke said and Lexa nodded smiling. "I have missed you too." She said kissing Clarke back. "The mission?" She asked. "A success. Killed him myself." Lexa said to her and Clarke nodded. "The body?" she asked. "In the room. Murphy thought it was best if we could show the leaders that they could trust Bellamy to give us Intel that can help us. A boost in their faith on the boy." Lexa said.

"He was right. We can use to show the Clan leaders that trusting Bellamy to get inside was a good call. We can even use this to further help with the acceptance of my people with yours even if it's just a little." Clarke said to her and Lexa smiled. "You will make a great kwin one day." Lexa said and Clarke frowned. "Kwin? I thought haiplana was the word for that." Clarke said to her girlfriend and Lexa nodded. "It is but haiplana is commonly used while kwin is a title bestowed upon the Commander's wife as kin would be for the husband. Only they can have that title." Lexa said to her and Clarke smiled.

"Is this a subtle marriage proposal? Because if it is, the answer is yes. Always." Clarke said to her and kissed Lexa who smiled. "I have no doubt that it will happen but for now, I will take that answer as a promise of someday." Lexa answered and Clarke smiled. "You still haven't even taken me out on a date or even met my parents officially as my girlfriend. You have a long way to go before claiming me as your wife, Heda." Clarke said to her and Lexa smiled. "But I will and when it happens, it will be the best day of my life." Lexa said seriously and they kissed for a while before they pulled back and looked out of the window. "It's getting dark." Clarke announced and Lexa nodded.

"It's time." Lexa said kissing the blonde and Clarke sighed against her lips. "Although I don't look forward to this but let's do it." Clarke said and they pecked each other once more before finally walking out and back to where Kane was along with Murphy. "Kane. You ready?" Clarke asked him as she came to his side and he nodded. "I am." He said to her and picked up the radio. "Whitman to Mount Weather command. Targets are together, the meeting is about to start." He said as they waited on bated breaths. "Whitman. Are you in position? Over." Cage sounded through the radio.

"Affirmative, sir. Generating target coordinates now. Over." Kane said over the radio and picked the paper with the coordinates. "North 55 degrees, 12 minutes, 41 seconds." He said and waited. "Copy." The answer came so he looked at the other three before he continued. "By west 37 degress, 24 minutes, 15 seconds. Over." He said and waited. "We're locked in." They heard. "Standing by for confirmation." Kane said and turned the radio off as Clarke turned to the computer and connected it to the device Raven showed her how to use.

"What is this going to do?" Lexa asked and Clarke locked in the coordinates but didn't press enter. "The device is for visual. They can see this village but we want them to see the bombing so this will make that happen and then we cut the communication and confirm that the bomb was a success and they will believe it." Clarke explained and Lexa nodded and Clarke turned to Kane who looked at her. "Do it." She said to him and he nodded picking it up again. "Final targets confirmed. We are a go for launch." Kane said and Clarke held one of Lexa's hand as the other hovered above the button as they waited.

"Bird is in the air. Impact in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." They heard through the radio and watched by the monitor as the bomb hit the target and at the same time, Clarke pressed enter so the fire and smoke was everything the Mount Weather was seeing, thinking it was TonDC. "Whitman, confirmation that bird hit the target." They said over the radio. "Confirmed, sir. The village was hit." Kane said in the radio. "Very well, stay there and shoot any of the survivors. Copy?" Cage said to him. "Yes, sir. Copy that. Over and out." Kane said and turned the radio off and Clarke turned the device off as well and they smiled before they hugged each other.

"We did it. We did it, man." Murphy said excitedly as he hugged Kane and Clarke hugged Lexa. "We did it, baby. We saved them." She said on the brunette's ears that tightened her hold on her. "Thank you." She whispered back and Clarke smiled before pulling back and kissing her. "Thanks to all of us." Clarke said and pulled back, moving to hug Kane then Murphy before pulling them all into a sort of group hug before letting them go. "And what do we do now?" Kane asked the girls. "Now, Lexa and I deal with the meeting with the clan leaders and use this to our advantage. You guys can go and enjoy the rest of the night. We'll take it from here." Clarke said to them and they nodded.

"Okay then. See you guys later." Murphy said and the girls nodded at him before he left and Kane said goodbye as well. "I'm so very proud of both of you." He said and they smiled. "Thanks Kane. You were amazing as well." Lexa said to him and he shook his head. "It was your plan, I only helped execute it. But now, get this meeting done with so that we can move forward." He said to them and they nodded at him. "We will." Clarke said and hugged him and Lexa shook his hand. "Tell Gustus to gather the leaders and bring them here." She said as Kane nodded and walked out and she turned to Clarke. "You ready to face them?" Lexa asked her love and Clarke could only kiss her as she answered,

"By your side, there's nothing I can't face."


	86. Meeting and Love

The meeting and the love

They had a few more moments alone. "I can't believe we did it, that we stopped the missile. It seems unreal to me." Clarke said as Lexa leaned against the table and Clarke leaned on her, face to face. Lexa smiled at her. "Me neither. Frankly, I wasn't even daring myself to be hopeful in case it failed but now that it didn't, I feel confident this time. Together, we will take them down and free our people. Luckily not having to betray each other to do it." Lexa said and Clarke smiled as she hugged her girlfriend and put her face on the joining of Lexa's neck and jaw and just stayed like that, lying kisses here and there as Lexa sighed. "I was worried we wouldn't pull this through." Lexa said with a tone of worry and Clarke nodded at her words agreeing with her as Lexa continued,

"I was worried I would have to let everyone burn again. I know that if it came down to the same choice we had last time, I would make the same choice as I did before but I am so glad there was no need for me to do that. I'm happy that we were able to stop it with just a little pretends and the death of one Mountain Men and no one else, especially none of our people." Lexa said to her and Clarke just held her tighter. "You helped save them. You did the right thing, then and now. I can understand both decisions but I am also glad we don't have the blood of all of these people in our hands again." Clarke said and Lexa nodded.

Soon enough, they hear the sounds of warriors coming and pulled apart from each other before they both took their place by the head on the table and waited for the clan leaders to get inside and one by one, they did. The room slowly got filled with them. Of course, they weren't the real leaders even because neither Luna nor Nia were here but they were each leader's second in command and they all came along with a general and fit themselves around the table. Indra and Anya represented the Trikru as bodyguards, Gustus and Ryder stayed behind Lexa and Clarke making their respectively protection.

"Hail warriors of the twelve clans." Lexa said in her Commander voice which Clarke loved. "Hail Commander of the Blood." They said it back and Lexa nodded. "We are gathered here to discuss the war against the Mountain and I don't see why I shouldn't go straight to the point. We have very good news for you all, especially the Trikru delegation." Lexa said gathering their attention as they listened, Anya and Indra looking at each other before focusing on her again. "It seems that Clarke's faith in her people and in Bellamy was very well placed for he has come through from inside the Mountain. We have our inside man." She said to them and they all cheered on that news before she silenced them.

"Not only that but his work as a spy has already helped us avoid a tragedy today." Lexa said to them. "What are you talking about Heda?" A woman Clarke hadn't seen before but by the symbol of her clan was from the Trishanakru asked her. "I'm glad you asked, Ruth. Yesterday, Clarke of the sky People suffered an attack, luckily our warriors were there to protect her and they captured one of the Maunon." Lexa started explaining as the leaders looked at each other. "Working together, both of our people found out that Clarke and I were targets high on their list to be eliminated immediately." Lexa continued,

"But you're both okay, Heda?" A guy from the Shallow Valley asked her clearly worried. "Yes, Tim. Clarke and Indra sent riders to warn me but the situation took an unexpected turn and I will let Clarke explain to you what exactly happened." Lexa said and motioned for Clarke to speak. "The Mountain man we captured was sent back to his people with a message. I let him go like that because Bellamy asked me to buy him some time so he could disable the acid fog without being caught so by giving them the message, their eyes would be turned to us and not inside their own walls." Clarke said to them.

"Which is exactly what happened and will be explained shortly after we finish telling this part of the story." Lexa complemented and Clarke nodded. "Today, earlier, Bellamy made contact with me and my second in command Raven who is coordinating the removal of the acid fog and their defenses along with Bellamy and by spying on them, we discovered that our fears were coming true. The Mountain Men started to drill on my friends, to extract their bone marrow forcefully." Clarke said to them. "What is that?" Indra asked, not really familiar with what that was, the others leaders were confused as well.

"In a simplified way, the bone marrow is responsible for the blood. The Earth is radioactive from what you call Praimfaya and because of that, our air is toxic to them and they can't come out like it was previously explained. However, my friend's blood is modified to withstand high levels of radiation and the transplant of our bone marrow to the Mountain Men would make it possible for them to walk outside without any danger being presented from the air. The only thing is to do that they would have to kill every single one of my friends inside the Mountain to get enough bone marrow for all of their people and they are already doing it." Clarke said.

"They can come outside?" One of them asked worriedly and Clarke shook her head. "No, just a few of them that have received the treatment already would be able to, their President for an instance but if we don't stop them soon, yes, they will." Clarke said to them before continuing, "While talking to Bellamy today, we overheard a conversation from their leader with a soldier where he said that they knew about this meeting and that they would use this opportunity to kill all of us at once by sending a missile." Clarke said and they started panicking but Lexa contained them. " _Enough._ Let Clarke speak." She ordered and they quieted down.

"It seemed impossible to avoid it but in the same conversation, they gave us a solution to that problem without realizing. They can't come out so to aim the missile, they would need someone on the ground to give them coordinates of this place so they could launch the missile and kill us all and there was the answer to the problem, if we took the spotter out, there would be no missile." Clarke explained to them and looked at Lexa who took over. "So Clarke sent two of her people to tell me that and together, we found the man." She said and motioned for Gustus to remove the blanket that covered the body and they all saw the dead man.

"I killed him myself. And with the help of the Sky people and their technology, we were able to aim to a place inhabited so there were no casualties and now they think we are all dead and mourning our losses and we will be catching them by surprise." Lexa said and they nodded. "But the acid fog is still up?" The representative of the Ice Nation asked and Clarke nodded. "Yes, it is." Clarke answered him. "Then your lover's job is not done and we are still stuck in one place." He said to her and Clarke felt more than she saw Lexa tense at the use of the word lover to describe Bellamy. She wished she could comfort her.

"He is not my lover and no, not yet, you're right but now we are one step closer to it. The brightest engineers we have are working together to help him and in three days or even less, he will have done it and then, we can move forward." She explained and Lexa nodded. "Clarke is right. The fog may still be functioning but Bellamy has saved our lives today and the least we can give him is a couple more of days." Lexa said and the others nodded. "The Commander is right. We would all have died today if it wasn't for him and he is still our best chance at defeating them." A woman from Luna's clan spoke in her favor and Clarke nodded at her.

"Now, for our plan in regards to attack, here is what we have learned about them so far." Lexa said and started explaining to them what was their plan, which in resume, was the same as last time but with a few difference, the tone generators for once. Clarke explained to them that with that, they would be able to stop the Reapers and get a safer way in and so they continued. The leaders had a lot of questions and ideas and Lexa made sure to listen to all of them and try and incorporate the ones she judged was better. Clarke also participated but in this moment, she let Lexa lead and just watched, mesmerized by her girlfriend.

Lexa had been right about one thing: she was born for this. It came so naturally to her, the way she commanded every one while also giving them a chance to share their views was fascinating and beautiful and to be honest, Clarke just fell in love with Lexa that much more and she didn't think that was possible but it was. The meeting went on for hours and it was already day when they finished and they all left the room satisfied with the plan they had. Lexa and Clarke went to their house and Lexa sighed as she removed her armor until she was only wearing her shirt before she felt two arms around her waist and she smiled.

"I love watching you lead your people. You look so comfortable doing it. It's beautiful, actually." Clarke said to her and kissed her shoulder as Lexa smiled. "It isn't always like that, beautiful or comfortable to do it and sometimes it isn't any of those things. Sometimes is ugly and unbearable to lead them but when that happens, I usually seek my people for comfort. I don't show them my weakness, my doubts because they wouldn't like it but I let them remind me what and who I am fighting for and it gets a little bit better." Lexa said and Clarke smiled.

"And that is one of the reasons why I love you so much." Clarke said as Lexa turned around and pulled the blonde up to sit on the table and settled in between her legs looking at her. "The leader in you is one of the reasons why I love you too." Lexa said and Clarke shook her head. "I'm not good at it. I just go along and hope for the best." She said and Lexa lifted her chin up and made the blonde look at her. "We are leaders, Clarke. But more than that, we are not perfect, we're humans, we make mistakes and the catch is to learn from them." Lexa said.

"You have made your mistakes, so have I. But if for nothing else, this chance is for you to do better with what you have learned from those mistakes and you are doing better but even if it you weren't, I still would be proud of you as leader because you don't give up, ever, no matter what are the odds. One of the most beautiful things about you is your will to keep trying, no matter how hard or impossible it seems, you try anyway and you don't stop. That is admirable, Clarke. It is beautiful." Lexa said and wiped a tear that fell down on the blonde's face.

"What can I possibly have done to deserve a love like yours? Someone like you?" Clarke said to her sincerely and Lexa smiled. "Love is not about deserving or not, it's about feeling it and I love you, no matter what." Lexa said to her honestly and Clarke smiled. "I love you too. So much." Clarke said and they kissed for quite some time but it was different kisses, not hungry and passionate ones but rather sweet and gentle with love pouring from one to the other as if the world didn't matter, didn't even exist right now. All they could see, feel, was each other.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Clarke said in between the kisses and Lexa smiled at her words and at her. "I do too, from the day I met you, I knew I would love you more than anything or anyone I have ever loved before. I never spoke truer words than when we met and I said that you're the one because you are the one for me, Clarke of the Sky People." Lexa said and Clarke smiled. "I can the say the same, after all that is what I felt too and just so you know, you're the one for me as well, Lexa kom Trikru. Now and forever. Can you deal with that, Heda or are you scared of committing to a relationship?" Clarke asked her.

Lexa chuckled and laughed before she shook her head as they heard a knock on the door followed by Gustus calling for Lexa and sighed, both of them. "Now, that is something I don't like about leadership, not even a little. The lack of privacy, I don't like when it's with me and your people are even worse. Everyone is always calling for you." Clarke pouted and Lexa smiled at her girlfriend. "You're very cute. And they call, because they need me and I need to be there for them, always. Can you understand and accept that?" Lexa asked her and Clarke sighed. "I can." She said still pouting and Lexa smiled as she put on her clothes back.

"Try to sleep and when I finish whatever this is, I will join you in bed." Lexa said to her and Clarke smiled. "As long as you don't take too long." Clarke said to her and Lexa nodded before pecking her lips and leaving. It took her three hours to solve the problem that had happened between Azgeda and Trikru, like always. But when she got back, she found Clarke sound asleep and she quietly shed her thing before getting on the bed and back hugging Clarke who melted back against her and held her hand. "Are you only mine now?" Clarke sleepily said and Lexa smiled. "Always." She said and they both went to sleep, cuddling.


	87. Couples fight

Couples fight, don't they?

It was well into the day when Clarke woke up from a wonderful nap and when she felt an arm around her, she knew exactly the reason for that happiness. "Hey, sleepy head. We need to wake up. We should be leaving soon." Lexa said to her ear and Clarke turned around and faced her, their noses touching with how close they were. "I love waking up next to you." Clarke said sweetly and Lexa smiled. "I love every second I spend with you as well." She said to her girlfriend and they smiled. "Today, we would have been chasing Whitman with a destroyed village and filled with guilt." Clarke said to her and Lexa agreed as the blonde continued,

"But now we are here. We have so far saved everyone, got rid of the missile and all we have to do is wait for Bellamy and Raven to disable the acid fog and this nightmare will be over, once and for all." Clarke finished saying smiling and the brunette nodded smiling too. "We can do this, Clarke. I know we can. All we need is two more days." She said to her and Clarke nodded. "There is actually something I wanted to ask you." Clarke said to the brunette. "Go ahead. Ask me anything." Lexa said sweetly. "Has Luna ever left the rigs before or does she stay there only?" Clarke asked her and Lexa frowned.

"Why are you asking that? Did something happen between you and Luna?" She asked her frowning and Clarke smiled shaking her head. "Not with me. With Raven. They kind of connected before, just like you and me and Raven wants to know how fast she can try to have that with Luna again." Clarke said and Lexa was shocked. "Luna and Raven?" Lexa asked her and Clarke nodded her head. "Yep. So?" Clarke asked and waited. "Despite being considered a traitor of the blood, Luna is free to walk since not many people actually know she is a nightblood. Thing is she doesn't like coming out of the rig or coming to Polis, said it brings back things she want to forget." Lexa explained to her.

"She went crazy by the end." Clarke said out loud and Lexa frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked her girlfriend and Clarke sighed. "When we found the bunker before Praimfaya hit, we couldn't agree on who would take it so since my mom had cracked the nightblood solution and had made me one, I thought if I became Commander, I could get the clans to listen and start working together, like you did, but Roan stopped me and instead proposed a conclave to decide. The winner's clan would take the bunker." She explained as Lexa listened.

"Who fought for Trikru?" Lexa asked her. "Pio." Clarke answered and the brunette shook her head. "Arrogant, temperamental. I bet he went after the Ice Nation first. He hates them." Lexa said and Clarke nodded. "Roan was their champion and killed him quite quickly." She said and Lexa nodded. "Obviously. Who fought for your clan?" Lexa asked her and Clarke smiled. "Octavia, the SkaiRipa. Death from above, as they came to call her." She said and Lexa nodded. "Octavia is a good warrior but she has yet to learn a lot, including obedience." Lexa said to her and Clarke smiled, ain't that the truth?

"Thing is Octavia actually won. Of course, she didn't fight everyone but she was the last one standing and she killed Luna. Praimfaya had killed all of her people and Luna decided that we all deserved to die and promised that if she won, everyone would stay out of the bunker to die. But she was the one who died, instead." Clarke exaplined and Lexa nodded at what she was saying. "Remember when I told you that she doesn't know how to handle her darkness?" Lexa asked her and Clarke nodded thinking of the conversation they had on the valley. "Yes, I do. What about it?" She asked Lexa.

"I think maybe Raven can be the key to that. I didn't know how to handle my emotions very well and you changed that for me, you changed me for the better. Maybe Raven's love can do the same for her. Show her a better way to live. And don't worry, they will meet soon. Once the battle is won, there will be a feast and a celebration in Polis with all the clan leaders, the real ones this time though Nia won't come. She never does but I will make sure to get Luna to come and you bring Raven and we let her do the rest." Lexa said to her and Clarke smiled.

"You have the biggest, most generous and caring heart and I don't know why I got so lucky but you're not getting away from me, ever." Clarke said to her and Lexa smiled. "Who say I want to escape you?" Lexa said and they smiled at each other before they started kissing each other sweetly and passionately for quite some time before things turned heated and they started taking each other's clothes off. They wanted to enjoy every moment of peace they had until the battle came their way and after the success in saving TonDC, what could be better than this? Nothing. They made love many times.

It was much later when they finished putting back their clothes on and gathered their things before walking out of the house and looking at everyone going from one place to the other happy everyone was safe and alive. They both sighed in content before Lexa moved forward and so did Clarke. They came to where her trusted generals are. "Heda." They said bowing their heads. "I'm glad you are all here, it makes this simple. We will be leaving tonight. Tell the warriors to gather and we shall march close to the Mountain." She said to them and Indra nodded before she started barking orders to the warriors.

"So we are waiting on Bellamy's signal?" Anya asked them and Clarke nodded at her. "He must be trying to find the room where the acid fog is contained, once he finds it, Raven knows what to do to get him to disable it so that part will actually be easy." She explained and Anya nodded. "Now, we do our part." Lexa said to themand the generals nodded. Clarke then looked away and noticed Octavia and Lincoln with Kane and Murphy and decided to go check on them. "Excuse me." She said to the grounders and moved towards them. "Lincoln, I'm glad you're back. You scared us a little." Clarke said to him and he looked at her.

"It's nice to be back." He said to her with a small smile and she nodded at him. "What are we doing now?" Octavia asked and Clarke looked at her. "We will be marching towards the Mountain but staying out of the acid fog zone for now. Once Bellamy shuts it down, we march in." Clarke explained to them and they all nodded. "How was the meeting?" Kane asked her and she sighed. "Tiring but productive. We have a good plan of action, we just need to finish a few details and once Bellamy shut it down, we're good to go." Clarke said and they nodded.

She explained everything to them and exactly what they needed to do and they nodded in understanding. Her parents, Finn and Wells would be coming with them later as would a few others and the rest was sorted to the other groups and when they were done talking Anya came to warn them that it was time to leave and the sky people joined the grounders in making their way to where their army was waiting for them. It took them about two hours on foot before they arrived at the place and Clarke told Octavia to find their people some place before she followed Lexa to where her tent was built same as last time and they got inside.

Meanwhile in Arkadia, Raven was working with Bellamy through the radio. "Bellamy. Come in." she said. "Yeah, I'm a little busy here, Raven." He said and she sighed. "You really don't know what a check-in is, do you? Have you found the source of the acid fog yet?" She asked him. "I'm making my way there now and it really isn't the time for nagging. It's taking longer than I thought." He said and she smiled. "That's okay. If you can get me to that room, I can turn this thing down. Just focus on that." She said and he sighed. "Something's wrong. My key card isn't working." He said as she expected. "Find another way. Get it from a guard. I don't know but do it fast." She said. "I'll call you back." She heard before the voices of the guards came in and so did the shots.

She knew he would get out of that situation but hearing it still made her worry he would get hurt so she turned it down and started finishing the fifth bomb they would use to blow the power on the dam, that was one thing that delayed them the last time and gave the Mountain Men the opening they needed to even offer Lexa the deal and Raven would make sure that she did her part in time without a hatch. She still knew what Clarke has told her to do and she wouldn't fail that either. Everyone's lives were depending on their success and Raven was not going to fail. She refused to let what happened last time repeat itself again.

Back in camp, the sun was rising in the sky already, Lexa and Clarke were in the former's make up bed with Clarke resting her head on Lexa's chest hearing her heart beat, it helped her calm down. "Relax, Clarke. Everything will be fine. I'm right here." Lexa said caressing her hair and Clarke sighed holding her tighter. "I'm just anxious. Less than I was last time we were here in this situation but still anxious." Clarke said and Lexa smiled. "That is true." She said and Clarke slapped her stomach a little making her chuckle. "What? What did I say?" Lexa played it dumb and Clarke pouted.

"You're supposed to be making me feel better." She said and Lexa chuckled. "I'm sorry but I was telling the true. Your pacing and anxiousness were driving me crazy last time." Lexa said and Clarke smiled. "Don't I drive you crazy on a normal basis?" Clarke asked and the brunette nodded. "You do but that night, you were making me anxious and I hate that. Also you were pretty worried about Bellamy." Lexa said to her and Clarke chuckled. "I never understood why you were always so jealous of him, you know?" Clarke asked.

"Because I wanted you to look and care about me as you did with him. Because I could see that what the two of you had, either friendship or something more, was quite strong and powerful and I had no idea where that would leave me, us. And you never truly did, to be honest." Lexa said sincerely and Clarke lifted herself up to look at her. "What do you mean I never truly did?" she asked and Lexa sighed. "The way you defended him with the whole massacre thing and manipulated me into changing our ways showed just how far you were willing to go for him, to save him." Lexa said to her.

"I didn't manipulate you." Clarke said in a serious tone and Lexa sighed. "Yes, you did, Clarke. It was my choice in the end to do it but you tried to manipulate me, using bit my feelings for you and my desire for a better future for my people and I get why. You wanted to protect him, it was painfully clear from the moment you heard Indra say his name that you would do anything to protect him, even putting your own life at risk." Lexa said to her and tried to touch Clarke but the blonde pulled away and the Commander sighed. "I was trying to protect my people from your army." Clarke said to her, not really believing what she was hearing.

"Do you really think I would have killed your friends and family and innocent people just like that?" Lexa asked her seriously as well and Clarke looked at her in confusion. "Your peace keeping army had just been slaughtered by my people, your friend had been hurt, you had just ordered your warriors to call upon the army of the twelve clans to lay waste to Arkadia. What the hell was I supposed to think, Lexa? That mercy was an option for my people? I thought you wanted their blood. Jus drein jus daun." Clarke spoke to her and Lexa shook her head.

"I know but I am not the monster you have come to think I am, Clarke. I would have given them all a chance as I always did, from the moment your people have settled, I have always given them a chance to decided and I would have done so again. If they had surrendered to my army and refused to raise their weapons, they would have been safe, only those who chose to fight would be killed but your blind need to protect Bellamy from everything, especially the consequences of his actions was so overwhelming that you didn't even give me a chance. I agreed to what you said because I have always believed in that and decided to use that moment to change my people's ways." Lexa explained to her and Clarke was shocked.

"So after seeing you defend him like that, even after the atrocity he had done, was I supposed to think that you liked me the same way you liked him? That you cared about me the way you cared about him? You risked your own life to try to save him and all he did was cuff you, still you kept on defending him. You kept showing how much he meant to you, how much you were willing to sacrifice for him. And I was supposed to think I was the one you loved the most? No one in my place would have back then, Clarke. Not even you." Lexa said to her and Clarke spoke up as a thought came to her head.

"When we had sex the first time when I was about to leave Polis, before it got to that, you were going to say I love you to me but you stopped yourself before you finished it. Was Bellamy the reason why?" Clarke asked her and Lexa nodded. "I had always loved you since the moment we met but I wasn't sure your feelings were the same as mine and at that point, I wasn't even sure they were real so I thought it wouldn't be appropriate for me to say those words, not into those circumstances nor with those doubts. It would have made things awkward and I didn't want to pressure you to feel something you didn't, not yet at least." Lexa said honestly to her and Clarke sighed shaking her head.

Clarke couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I, I need to get some air." Clarke said and got off the bed and started walking away. "Clarke, please, let's talk about this." Lexa followed after her and held her hand, trying to stop her from going away but the blonde just shook her head. "I can't talk to you right now, Lexa. I need some time to think alone, okay? I will see you tomorrow." Clarke said coldly to her before freeing herself from Lexa's grip and walking out of the tent and walking to where her friends were as Lexa sighed and went back to bed, laid down and looked up at the ceiling.


	88. Making up

Making up and forward

Clarke sat down with her friends as they were talking about something she didn't give a damn about right now. Her mind was only replaying her recent talk with Lexa and she couldn't believe what the older girl said that she hadn't believe Clarke actually liked her but rather liked Bellamy instead, or at least liked him more than liked her. That couldn't be further from the truth. She felt responsible for him as she did with Finn, unnecessarily because they are the only ones responsible for their actions but that was what she felt back then, now it's different.

She knows better now but she never expected that Lexa would think her feelings for Bellamy were more than friendship, more than her feeling for her and that she manipulated Lexa to protect Bellamy. She didn't do that, did she? She stopped thinking about it for a while, she needed some air and to get her mind away from that conversation so she could calm down and then think about it so she tried to engage in the one of her friends' conversation that they were having and it helped her forget for a while but when she looked at the side and saw Lexa talking with Ryder, everything just came up again.

She looked away from her girlfriend and tried to push those feelings and thoughts out of her head for a while longer but she didn't seem to be able to and then she felt Kane sit down beside her and she looked at him. "What happened?" He whispered to her. "What do you mean?" She played it dumb but it didn't work. "What happened between you two?" He asked her again and with his knowing smile, she sighed. "We had a fight about Bellamy and us. Big surprise." She said to him and he nodded. "Tell me and maybe I can help you." Kane said to her and Clarke looked at him before nodding.

"We were talking a few moments ago about how she is or was jealous of him, always has been and she said that there was no way she couldn't be when I seemed to care so much about him and went out of my way to protect him. That she didn't know where she stood with me because of him. She said that I manipulated her into changing their tradition for him and that when we, the first time you know, she didn't say I love you because she wasn't sure I even liked her at all." She explained to him and he nodded at her. "Let me guess, you got angry." He said to her and she nodded.

"Of course, I did. She knows that there has never been anything between Bellamy and I beyond friendship. Ever. Especially not after I fell in love with her. Why on Earth would she think that I care or love him like that? That I feel more for him and feel less about her? It doesn't make sense, Kane." Clarke said to him and he sighed. "It actually does, Clarke." He said to her and she looked surprised at him. "What?" She asked shocked by his answer. "Is it really that surprising to you that she was unsure about your feelings? How were things between you two when you arrived in Polis? How did you treat her?" He asked her and she remembered.

"Badly, but only because I was angry and hurt and betrayed. It didn't mean I didn't feel something for her, in fact, at that moment I wished I didn't but I couldn't stop myself from wanting her." Clarke said to him seriously and he nodded. "Have you stopped to consider that in your pursuit to stop having feelings for her, that your rejection to those feelings and in a way to her, was all she saw? All she had from you?" He said to her and Clarke looked at him as he continued. "When she put her life at risk to fight for us, did she come to see you after she won?" He asked her and she nodded at him.

"Okay and what did she say to you?" He asked her and she sighed before speaking. "She thanked me for backing her up against the other Ambassadors." She said to him. "And what did you say to that?" he asked her and she looked at him. "I said that I saved her because it was the right thing for my people." Clarke said to him and he nodded. "Exactly." He said waiting for her to see it but she just shook her head. "But it wasn't because of that, I saved her because what they did was wrong and I couldn't even imagine something happening to her." Clarke explained to him and he nodded.

"And that was the answer she was hoping to hear from you or at least a small part of it. A confirmation that you still felt something for her, something that could validate that maybe what you two had could be mended. That you weren't indifferent to her, that you still cared but instead…" He said and left the cue for her and she continued. "I made her think I only needed her to protect my people and nothing else." She said realizing what he was talking about and he nodded at her. "And when the massacre happened and you defended Bellamy so fervently…" He left it open for her again,

"It made her think that he was the one I really liked and when I asked her to spare him, she understood as if I would do anything to save him even if it meant appealing to her feelings for me to get it, manipulating her through it to save him." She said to him shakily and he nodded. "And after that, when Emerson attacked me in Polis, she tried to help but I pushed her way. The only moment I showed her anything other than that was when we said our goodbyes but even then, she could easily have believed I was doing it to keep her in control and not really because I felt something for her." She said it to him and he nodded.

"She didn't mean to hurt you or upset you, Clarke. She was merely speaking the truth and you didn't want to see it." He said and she put her head on her hands before looking at him. "How can she even want to be with me, Kane? I treated her like shit before and a few I love you's can't even begin to med those wounds." She said to him and he gave her a comforting smile. "She wants to be with you because she loves you more than anything. Because the heart has reason that reason does not know." He said to her and she sighed. "How can I begin to make up to all the bad things I did and said to her, including the argument now?" She asked him and he smiled at her.

"I don't know, I think you should wait a little before you go talk to her but when you do, you sure could start with I'm sorry." He said to her and she smiled at him. "I will. Thanks Kane. Talking to you helped a lot." She said and hugged him and he hugged her back. "You're family, Clarke. I will always be there for you when you need me, even if you don't want my help." He said and she smiled. "You're family too. You're the cool uncle that always help when we get in trouble, you know?" She said and he pulled back. "On that, we agree." He said joking and they laughed and continued talking a little bit more.

Back in Arkadia, Raven had the thing nailed down, she was only waiting for Bellamy to come in through the radio and finally after hours waiting and pacing, he did. "Come in, Raven. I made it. I hope you have a plan." He said to and she picked it up the radio. "I do but first I need you to tell me what you see around you." She said to him. "A huge steel vat, looks like a submarine, some other tanks with chemical formulas and warning labels." He said and she stopped him. "That must be where the fog is. Bellamy, do you see a monitor?" She asked him.

"Yeah, found it." He said to her and she smiled. This was it. "Okay. This is the plan. What you're looking at is probably the control panel, we will use it to disable this thing. Are you with me?" She asked. "Always." He said and she smiled. "Okay. I need you to see if you can find something about cleaning." She said over the radio. "I found it. Maintenance and cleaning." He said and she smiled. "Obviously." She said. "What is obvious?" He asked. "They have been using acid fog for a long time, the protective oxide film would have had to be restored which means the tanks needs to be cleaned and to do that, they need to neutralize the acid. Go to subdirectory and look for passivation." She explained to him.

"Ok. I'm on it. Got it. It says, uh, aqueous sodium hydroxide bath." He said to her and she smiled. "That's a base, it will neutralize the acid. Select that." She said. "It's doing something." He said. "You should be able to hear the pump." She said to him. "I can hear them. Needle's moving. pH is rising. Passivation success." He said to her and she smiled. "Good. Now, I need you to do something for me. You copy?" She said to him and waited for his answer. "Copy." He said and she smirked. "Stay alive." She said. "Got it." He said and she turned it off and ran outside as fast as she could. She knew what he would do and trusted him to do it.

Meanwhile back in camp, Clarke finally had the courage to go talk with Lexa. She took a deep breath and entered the tent to find Lexa looking at the papers same as before and she couldn't help but smile. "Deja vu." Clarke said out loud and Lexa looked at her, noticing the scene and nodded. "Indeed." She said before looking back to her papers and Clarke sighed. "I'm sorry." She said coming closer and Lexa stopped and looked at her. "I'm sorry about the way I reacted, I'm sorry for the way I treated you, I'm sorry for everything. You were right about everything you said." Clarke said to her and Lexa frowned.

"That you feel more for Bellamy than for me?" Lexa asked her confusedly and Clarke got closer shaking her head. "No, of course not but with the way I treated you and based on my actions, you weren't wrong in assuming that and it is my fault that you came to that conclusions. I got you to think that. I did, without realizing it but I did. But I want you to know that it isn't true, never was. I don't feel for Bellamy anything like I feel for you. He is my friend, almost a brother and that is all, has always been all. You are the love of my life and I am sorry I was such a jerk and didn't let you know or see it before." Clarke said to her before continuing,

"I talked to Kane and he made me realize that I treated you like shit because you were right back then. I blamed you for what I had to do in the Mountain so that I wouldn't blame myself. I kept making myself believe that if you hadn't abandoned me, I wouldn't have had to kill everyone." Clarke said to her and Lexa moved to speak but she shook her head. "No, let me finish." She said and Lexa gave her a small nod and stayed quiet only listening to the blonde. "Truth is what I was most hurt about was that you left me, after you kissed me and confessed to me, you left. I felt used and maybe without realizing I ended up doing the same to you, only ten times worse." She said to Lexa as tears stated forming.

"I tried to make myself hate you, forget you, feel nothing for you but the more I tried, the more my feelings seemed to grow and I couldn't handle it so when you brought me to Polis, I did everything I could to push you away because I was afraid I wouldn't be strong enough to resist you and I needed to, I had to resist you, no matter what. I needed to keep away from you so I tried to distance myself from any sort of good feeling related to you and hid behind the 'I was doing for my people' speech." Clarke said sincerely as tears came to her eyes.

"But the truth is I needed you so badly. I spit on your face when my heart wanted to kiss you. I ignored you when my heart wanted to be with you every minute. I played it cool but my heart almost exploded when you kneeled to me. I tried everything I could to save you because the thought of you getting hurt or worse was so unbearable that I felt like I couldn't breathe. I saved my people because I didn't want to lose either one of you. I pushed you away with Emerson because I was reminded of what I did but I had already stopped blaming you for it. I gave myself to you because I loved you and not as a goodbye but as a promise. A promise of someday. Of someday the two of us being able to be together. And when I lost you, a part of me died as well." Clarke said and tears were falling down on her face.

"I love you so much and I don't want to spend one second away from you ever again. And I really don't deserve you, not by far, zero chance on that but I want to spend the rest of my life trying to be someone deserving of your love, if you will have me?" Clarke said to her and Lexa was confused. "What are you saying?" She asked. "Well, we haven't gone out on a date and have not met each other's family but I have no doubt that you are my soulmate and that we are meant to be and given that, I would like to know and when all of this is over, if you will marry me?" Clarke asked with a smile and Lexa was shocked.

"Do you really mean that?" Lexa asked her and Clarke nodded holding her hands. "With all of my heart so an answer, please. Will you marry me? Yes or no?" Clarke asked her and Lexa kissed her. Clarke didn't waste time to kiss her back. She wrapped her arm around Lexa's neck and the older girl wrapped hers around the blonde's waist pulling her closer as they kissed before she pulled back. "It would be my honor." She said to her and Clarke smiled and she did then as they kissed again just as they heard. " _The Signal! Commander, come quick."_ They chuckled and pulled back.

"Great timing, Ray. Just when I am getting engaged." Clarke said right before they walked out of the tent and looked at the sky and saw the flare. "They did it." Clarke said to her and Lexa looked at her and smiled. "Now we fight." She said and they turned and ran to the hill and cries for her title went out. " _Sound the horn."_ Lexa said and the sound was followed by the cheers of her warriors. " _To war."_ She yelled and the cheers went louder as she turned to look at Clarke before they both looked out again.

It was time.


	89. The fight part I

The fight part 1

The army moved through the woods walking past safety and entering the acid fog zone but they knew that everything would be okay. This time around Clarke didn't go to Octavia to keep her safe or to keep her mouth shut about the missile, there would be no fight because of TonDC, she will focus on what she needs to focus on and that is winning the war. It took them about an hour to get in position and another half an hour to get the tents ready but once everything was done, Lexa called the generals and warriors for the debriefing on their mission.

They waited a few more minutes before the group of Sky People came inside and there were a lot of familiar faces. Nathan's Dad, David, Monroe, Abby, Jake, Kane, Murphy, Finn and Wells, Jaha and a few more guards. "Welcome, Skaikru. Join us." Lexa said greeting them politely and motioned for them to step forward and they did. Jake was the one to step forward to her with the bag. "Raven sent this." He said and passed it to Clarke while greeting the Commander and walking back. Clarke pulled the bomb off the bag. "It's hydrazine. It will do the job." She said to him and put in back inside and away.

"Field Commanders, today's the day we get our people back. The enemy thinks it's safe behind its doors but it's not. When it realizes that, it will fight back. Hard. We need to be ready." Lexa said and looked at Clarke who took over and the speech went about the same way as it did before. "This is a rescue mission. We are not here to wipe them out. There are people inside that mountain that have helped us, children who have nothing to do with this war. We kill their soldiers, their leadership but we are there to rescue our people. Is that clear?" She said and they nodded their heads.

"Good, then let's begin. There are 4 teams. Two of them, one at the dam and one in the mine are moving into position already. The third is inside the Mountain, freeing the grounder prisoners as we speak. It is our job as the fourth team to keep the eyes of the enemy off of them for as long as possible. To do that, we have to be in position here at the main door with our entire army. The Mountain Men believe the door can't be opened from the outside so they leave it unguarded. Only it can be, and thanks to our source on the inside, now we know how." She said as she explained.

"According to Maya, the electromagnetic locking system has one flaw. When the power goes out, it disengages. That's where Raven's team comes in. The mountain's electricity is generated at Philpot Dam. By now, they've taken the turbine room. It's their job to blow the power. Once they do, we blow the lock. There is a catch, a backup generator inside the mountain. If the lock is still functioning when the backup power kicks in, we'll never get that door open, we'll never get our people back." Clarke explained.

"How much time do we have until the backup power kicks in?" Miller Sr said and Clarke looked at him. "One minute. That's the window." She said to him. "Small window." Jake said to her. "Try too small." Murphy said. "Why don't we just take out the backup generator too? Bellamy's inside. Have him do it." Miller Sr said to them. "Leaving them without power that long would kill them all and as I said, that's not the mission. Besides, we lost contact with Bellamy after he took out the acid fog." Clarke explained.

"Besides, we won't need to. If everything goes as the Commander and I have planned, we won't even the need a full minute, a couple of seconds and the door will get open. Bellamy is inside and for all we know they have learned with the acid fog down that there is a spy inside their walls, it would be too risky for him. What he was sent to do, he did. Now, it is up to him to free the army on the inside and stay alive." Clarke explained to them, but mostly to her own people since the others didn't care much about him.

"Bellamy is a warrior. He'll be fine and do what needs to be done." Lexa said to them and Clarke nodded. "As the Commander said, once the door opens, the shooting will start and they'll throw everything they have at us but that's what we want. We want them looking at us because while we're fighting at the front door, Indra's team will be escorting the prisoners out the back right through the reaper tunnels. Once all of our people are free, they'll sound the retreat. Then we attack them. That's the plan." She said to them and they nodded before she stepped back and let Lexa take over.

"The mountain has cast a shadow over these woods for too long. They've hunted us, controlled us, and turned us into monsters. That ends today. Thanks to our alliance with the Sky people, the mountain will fall. As Clarke said, we spare the innocent. As for the guilty, jus drein jus daun." Lexa started the chant and soon the grounders and everyone else joined them before Lexa raised her hand and they stopped. "Now, we march." She said and motioned for everyone to leave the room and they did but she stopped Clarke.

"What is it?" Clarke asked and Lexa pulled out her paint container and the brush. "We fight like one. We are one." She said and Clarke nodded and smiled at her before closing her eyes and letting Lexa paint her face. It took about 10 minutes before she finished and pulled a mirror for Clarke to look and she was shocked when she saw her reflection. Her eyes were painted but instead of bringing it down, Lexa pulled it to the side and up which made the side of her eyes looked like wings. "From the Sky, like a bird." Lexa said to her and Clarke kissed her. "I love you." She said and Lexa smiled. "I love you too." She said it back.

"You ready?" Lexa asked her and Clarke nodded and together, they walked out of the tent and as everyone turned to look at them, they were mesmerized by the sheer power the two young girls were emanating just standing together like that and they could not help but bow their heads, not just for one but for both of them and like that, the two of them led the warriors to march. Her mom stayed in the camp since she didn't like the fighting as did Jaha and her dad as for the others they all went as well as Kane along with the boys.

They all marched towards the door. As soon as they got there, Miller and Monroe started working on the door with the machine they brought which was the same one as before. The girls and the warriors just watched them and about after 20 minutes, she was finished. "That should do it. Bomb's away." She called to them and Clarke nodded before she pulled the bomb out of the bag and the container and very carefully put inside the hole and activated before walking back to her post. "Now, it's up to Raven and Wick." She said and they nodded.

Meanwhile at the dam, Raven was working faster than she ever did before. "3 down, 2 to go." She said and knew exactly what would be happening so she quickly took a look around and found the radio so she put her bomb down where it would be safe and stood up walking towards it with her hand on her back and under her jacket. "Raven, what the hell are you doing?" Wick called after her and before Wick even called out to her that there was man behind and as soon as he appeared, she pulled out a gun from behind her and shot him straight in the chest multiple times and he fell to the ground, dead.

"Oh my God." Wick said to her after watching that and she put the gun back and grabbed the radio. "402. Please report. Over." She grabbed it and went to Wick. "Put your hand over your mouth and answer it. Say: This is 402, everything is fine. Over." She said to him and he nodded and did as she said. "Very well. Anything out of ordinary, report immediately. Over." The woman said through the radio. "Copy that. Over and out." He said and she grabbed it and turned it off. "How did you do that?" He asked her as she went to finish putting up her bomb.

"Clarke taught me. Now, get back to work this dam needs to explode as soon as possible, everything is depending on us." She said to him and they finished putting on the 5 bombs and stood up. "Okay, now let's get the hell out of here." She said to him with the detonator in hand and he nodded as they started running, they ran as fast as they could until they managed to get outside where a group of grounders were waiting for them. They were panting and breathless. "You ready?" he asked and she smirked. "And the dam goes boom." Raven said as she pressed the button and soon enough they heard the explosion.

Back with the army, Clarke looked at Lincoln. "Can you shoot an arrow from this distance?" She asked and he nodded. "Then light on up and wait." She said and as soon as he finished preparing the arrow, the lights on the door went out and they smiled. "She did it." Monroe said it. "One minute starting now." Miller said but even before he could finish Clarke pulled the button but it did nothing again. "They're jamming us. Lincoln, fire now." She said and he aimed as everyone went down for cover and he let the arrow go and it hit the bomb exploding it.

Just then they started hearing shots being fired but none aimed at them and Clarke and Lexa smiled. They knew there would be shooters so they send a group of grounders to make protection of a unit of 15 ark guards with rifles and bombs that Raven cocked up while she waited for Bellamy to make contact. Murphy, Kane and the boys were leading the attack and judging by how not one fire was aimed at them, the girls figured they were succeeding in holding them back. "Open the door. Now." Lexa ordered and the men brought the rope and three lines filled with started pulling with all of their strength and soon enough the door started opening.

The girls looked at each other before Lexa nodded and as soon as they heard the horn coming from inside the tunnels, they knew that Indra's team was successful as well in securing the grounders prisoners who Bellamy helped to get free. Clarke and Lexa both knew that what made it possible for Cage to intercept the grounders which was used to blackmail Lexa into taking the deal was the time it took for Raven to explode the dam but since this time she did right away, the grounders inside were able to escape as they planned so there was only one thing left to do.

"Attack!" Lexa yelled and as the doors opened more, the warriors started getting in, the two leaders ahead of everyone entered the Mountain and Clarke, already knowing their place, was taking the lead and moving them forward. Soldiers started to appear and shoot at them but Clarke used the rifle she had on her and the grounder warriors started fighting back too and the Mountain men didn't stand a chance against them.

Lexa, Clarke and Anya were about to turn a corner when a gun was pointed at them. Luckily, it was Bellamy with Jasper and Monty, Octavia and Indra. "You're alive." Clarke said to him and he put the gun down. "So are you." He said to her. "Nice paint." Octavia said to her and she shook her head chuckling. "Thanks. Jasper, I need you to get the innocent people somewhere safe from the outside air. Got it?" She said and he nodded. "Octavia, you help him." She said and the girl nodded. "Monty, Bell. You're coming with me to the control room." Clarke said to them and the boys nodded.

"I will go with Indra and Anya to get Cage and his men." Lexa said and Clarke nodded, she hated the part of the plan where they got separated but it was needed. She needed to get to the control room and keep an eye on everything that was going, be the eyes and ears, every team had a radio and she could talk to them. "Okay, let's go." Clarke said and they started moving away. Clarke and the boys got to the control room and locked the door. "And now what?" Bellamy asked her. "Now, we help them from here. Monty, unjam the radio signals." Clarke said and he started typing away. "Done." He said and she grabbed the one she had.

"Alpha team. Cage is in the dorm. Level 5." Clarke said watching through the monitors as Lexa, Anya and Indra were making their way there. "Copy that." They said and started going down. And that way, Clarke gave them instructions and watched as the grounders fought bravely against the soldiers. "Where is Jasper taking then?" Bellamy asked and Clarke looked at the monitor. "Quarantine, smart." She smiled as the attack continued and she was helping the team outside as well when Monty called her.

"Clarke." He said and when she turned to him, he pointed at a monitor and when she looked at it, her blood froze. Cage had Lexa, she seemed dizzy, weak, he must have given her something and now he had her to do what he wanted. "What do we do?" Bellamy asked and Clarke didn't give him an answer until she saw the gun in Cage's hand and before either boy could even register, she went to the door, opened and took off in a run, not caring about anything except saving Lexa from that madman that calls himself the president.

However, she was stopped by shots of guns aimed at her making her lean back again the wall to protect herself from the bullets, she shot back at them until she almost ran out of ammo having only one left and when she looked in front of her a few paces away, she saw a sword lying next to a dead grounder as she leaned back against the wall and had an idea. She quickly looked and saw three guards moving forward in unison, probably thinking that since she stopped shooting she was either hurt or dead. Big mistake, buddies, Clarke thought.

She shot one of the lights right above the guards and as they were distracted by it, she ran, dodged to the ground, dropped the gun, grabbed the sword and in seconds, kill all three of them. She picked up one of their guns and adjusted the sword and started running again and soon enough, she turned to the corner where Cage had Lexa and he turned to her. "We finally meet." Cage said to her. "Let her go." Clarke said pointing the gun at him as he put the gun against Lexa's head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I can still pull the trigger before I die." He said and she knew he was telling the truth. "Now put the gun down." He said and she looked at Lexa who was barely standing straight and did as he asked and put the gun on the floor.

"I have to admit I am curious. How did you survive the missile?" He asked her. "We found your spotter, killed him and gave you the wrong coordinates." She said truthfully, there was no reason to lie anymore, this was the end,, one way or another. "Smart. I see I underestimated you but you surely gave me reason by joining with the savages. This one, in particular." He said and pressed the gun harder against Lexa's temple. "We could have gotten rid of them together and ruled the Earth." He said to her and she shook her head. "I would never ally myself with you. You are disgusting." She said to him and he chuckled.

"There is no reason to insult me, is there?" He said chuckling madly and she looked at Lexa who had her eyes dropping. "What did you do to her?" She asked him. "A little tranquilizer, not enough to put her to sleep but enough to give her some hallucinations and incapacitate her for the moment." He said truthfully as well and Clarke sighed. " _Lexa, I need you to listen to me. I need you to fight whatever is that he gave you. I can't lose you. We just found each other."_ She said to the girl, trying to get her to wake up. "Uh-uh. No talking in the savage language." He said to her and she looked at him.

"You do anything against her and I will make sure you suffer before you die." She threatened him. "I will make sure you suffer when I kill her." He said to her and before he could do anything, Lexa's eyes suddenly opened and instead of their usual green, they were bright red and Clarke was shocked to watch as Lexa grabbed Cage's hand, the one with the gun and in one swift movement, twisted around and broke it as he screamed and she picked him up way above her head and threw him away as he was knocked against the wall and she stopped before she turned back to Clarke.

"Are you okay?" She asked her and Clarke nodded. "I am but your eyes…" She said still shocked by what she was seeing and Lexa nodded and closed her eyes and when she opened them again, it was back to normal. "I will explain later, now help me tie him up." Lexa said to her and moved towards him as did Clarke. "Lex, what the hell was that?" She asked and Lexa looked at her. "Are you afraid of me?" She asked the blonde and Clarke shook her head as they put him in cuffs. "No, I would never but what was that?" She asked her again and Lexa sighed. "One of the abilities that come with the Flame." Lexa said and Clarke nodded.

"Becca told me there were a few she only ever showed you." Clarke said and Lexa nodded. "That was one of them, definitely not my favorite but it did the job." Lexa said and Clarke nodded. "Okay. You can explain that later to me." She said and Lexa nodded. "I promise I will tell you everything you want to know." Lexa said and Clarke smiled and as they picked up the man, Anya and Bellamy found them. "Is he dead?" Bellamy asked the girls and they shook their head. "Merely unconscious. What is it?" Lexa asked and looked at then as he looked at Anya and back at them and let the grounder woman give them the news.

"It is done, Heda. The Mountain is ours."


	90. The fight part II

The aftermath of the fight part 1

"The rest of the people? Are they safe? Maya?" Clarke asked them and Bellamy nodded at her. "Yes, they're safe. We have Dante, now Cage and Emerson and a few of the others." He explained and she nodded in relief. "Thank God. Are the others still in quarantine?" she asked and he nodded. "Okay, keep them there while we deal with things out here. Is Monty still in the control room?" She asked and he nodded as she turned to Lexa and Anya. "Okay, there is one more thing for me to take care of but the ones we have captured like this one here, they are yours to put on trial." Clarke said to them and Lexa looked at her.

"What about the others?" Anya asked the blonde. "The ones that are innocent are not to be killed. They have done nothing wrong." Clarke explained. "And where are they going to stay?" Indra asked her. "Here for now." Clarke said and they looked at her with caution. "Look, I know that none of you have any reason to trust them but these people are good. They refused the treatment because they knew it was wrong. They are kids and they can't go out yet. Me and my friends are going to disable any destructive weapons they have such as missiles, bombs, whatever we find. They will be harmless beside your warriors are here and all their soldiers are gone." Clarke explained to the generals before looking at Lexa.

"And what happens after?" Lexa asked her. They hadn't talked about what happened after they won yet. "They live and so do we. My people will be donating bone marrow safely so they can go out. After the risk they put themselves in just to help us, it seems like the right thing to do." Clarke said and Bellamy nodded. "Count me in." He said to her and she looked at him and smiled. "What if they decided to attack us?" Anya asked and Clarke looked at her. "The ones who survived are not soldiers, Anya. They wouldn't and even if they did, you could easily kill them all. They wouldn't be a problem and they won't." Clarke said sincerely.

"They just want to live in peace and without hurting anyone. It will be more difficult to stop your people from hurting them that the other way around. They are the ones in danger now and even knowing they risked everything to help us. They are not bad people, they were just lead by the bad guys and you have those now. Leave them be." Bellamy said to the three grounder women. "I will tell them that harming the survivors will not be allowed under consequences. They shall obey." Lexa said to the two friends and they nodded. "Thank you. So what you propose is that we let them live here, go outside and become a clan of their own?" Lexa asked Clarke and she seemed to think before nodding.

"Yes, but I have a better idea though it should be done later." Clarke said looking at them. "What is it, Sky Girl?" Indra asked. "What if them and us joined your coalition?" Clarke said shocking Anya and Indra while Lexa merely looked at her. This was not a surprise. She knew Clarke and her big heart, she knew the moment started defending their right to live that this would come up. "My people could accept your clan, given your help in defeating the Mountain but them? I don't think so." Anya said, Indra agreeing and Clarke nodded.

"I know and I am very happy to hear that. Know that the Sky people would be honored to accept but as for them, I wasn't talking about joining right now. I was talking later, first they would need to prove that they mean you no harm and with time and a clearer understanding of each other, maybe you could propose the addition. From what I have heard, Trikru and Azgeda are mortal enemies but you work together. Sure you could do the same with them one day, don't you think?" Clarke said to them as they looked at each other.

"Either way, it is definitely not something to be discussed now. Maybe in a month or two or more but now, all we need is a truce. They don't harm you and you don't harm them. The rest is up to my people." Clarke said to them and Lexa and the women nodded. "Very well, you have the truce but I want reports on everything that is going on and who can go out and what not." Lexa said to them and Clarke and Bellamy nodded. "Of course. Daily reports." He said and Clarke agreed. "What say you?" Lexa looked at her generals.

"It's a risk but as the Sky girl said so was joining with the Azgeda and by what I saw from the people who survived, Nia is a bigger threat than they could ever be. Those are no warriors, just a bunch of scared people." Anya said to her Commander and Indra nodded. "Very well, then it is done. What about our people, the captured ones, how are they?" Lexa asked her general and Indra spoke. "They were taken to the camp and I received word that the sky healer is taking care of them and Nyko is also on his way there to help treat them. Once Nyko arrives at the camp which should be happening anytime soon, Abby and the others will come here." Indra said to them and Clarke smiled. Her mom was coming.

"So, Bellamy and I will go to the control room, our friend there can disable the weapons and then we join you." Clarke explained. "I will go as well. Nothing personal but my people will not believe in your word that the weapons are destroyed. I want to see it for myself so I can vouch for you." Lexa said and they nodded. "Of course. Please." Clarke said and Lexa looked at the women. "Check with Gustus and tell him to start preparing pyres for all bodies and to send a team to help Abby and the others with whatever they need." She said and both women nodded before leaving them and Lexa looked at the two friends.

"Let's go." She said and they nodded and started working through the halls until they got to where Monty was. "Hey, Monty." Bellamy said and the boy looked at him and then at the girls as they entered and closed the door behind them. "Well I was kind of listening to the conversation and I already know what you want me to do so I started looking through the system and found that they still had 10 missiles." He said as he pointed to the screen for the other three. "Okay, can you disable them?" Clarke asked him and he looked at her. "The only way to make sure they are not usable again is to destroy them and to do that, I would have to explode them." He explained.

"But that would destroy this place." Bellamy said and he shook his head. "That was what I thought but no. Apparently the missiles are guarded in another place, like an extension from here but point is another place would be destroyed, not here. We are safe." He said to them and Lexa and Clarke looked at each other. "Okay, then do it." Clarke said and he started typing and within seconds looked back at them. "Why did you stop?" Lexa asked him. "Because I did it. All you need to do is pull the lever. The countdown will start and they will start exploding. There is only one thing though. There are soldiers there." He said and Clarke chuckled sadly at the similarity with the scene from the past.

"We have to do it. They can't get out anyway." She said to him and moved to grab the thing but Lexa's hand stopped hers and she looked at her girlfriend who had a comforting smile on her face. " _I'll bear it so you don't have to_." She said and Clarke felt the tears coming to her eyes as Lexa pushed her back gently and stood in front of the panel and grabbed the lever. "Jus drein jus daun." She said and pulled it down and the countdown started as she stepped back and at that moment, Clarke didn't care if Monty and Bellamy was there and what they would think about what they saw. She just hugged Lexa by the waist and leaned her head on the girl's shoulder as they watched from the monitor.

She could feel her friends' shocked stares at her and even Lexa's surprised stance and she smiled as she realized she didn't care that her friends would know that there is something more between the two leaders, all she cared about was the comfort of her girlfriend's arms around her and once passed the surprise, that was exactly what Lexa did, hugged her, pulling the blonde further into her side. When the voice counted down to one, they waited and started looking at the monitor of the place as the missiles started exploding, one by one until there were only flames and smoke left.

"It's done." Monty said and Clarke looked at him without leaving her position. "What about other weapons that could be used against the grounders? Can you get rid of those too?" she asked and he nodded and started typing it out as Clarke turned her head and her nose was on Lexa's neck and she smelled her scent and felt it relax her. "Done. All they have now is defensive mechanism, like lock down, self-destructive mechanisms, none that could be used to attack your people, only to destroy the Mountain." Monty said to them and Lexa nodded. "Thank you, Monty and Bellamy of the Sky People. Your help in winning this war will not be forgotten by my people and those who follow." Lexa said looking at them.

"Thank you, Commander." Bellamy said nodding at her. "Yeah, thanks and I am really glad we're not enemies anymore." Monty said and she smiled before kissing the top of Clarke's head. "Me too." She said and he smiled at them, they looked good together. "I need to go check on the progress of retrieving the bodies." Lexa said pulling away from Clarke who looked at her. "What will happen next?" Bellamy asked her. "We will burn the bodies to give them a proper goodbye and then, in a few days, once we have secured what we still need to do here, there will be a celebration in TonDC and you are all invited. It was a team effort, after all." Lexa said to them and they nodded.

"We will just finish taking care of the survivors and when the pyres are ready, we will join you." Clarke said to her girlfriend and Lexa nodded before the blonde held her face and kissed her. Lexa didn't waste time and kissed back before pulling away and looking at the smiling blonde and shook her head smiling as well. "Excuse me." She said to the two boys and turned around leaving the room as Clarke turned to look at them. "You're dating the Commander?" Monty asked and she chuckled. "I guess I am." She said smiling.

"I knew it. Well, we all did actually, since we went to TonDC, except for Finn who didn't want to see that there was something brewing between you two, jealous about you two and he was right to be." Bellamy said to her and she sighed. "I know but I talked to him and he is trying to move on besides it's a somewhat recent development." She said to him and looking at it, it really was, they have only been in a relationship for the past 6 days so technically she was telling the truth to him and they both smiled.

"Even though not too long ago, she wanted to wipe us out and tried to do that a couple of times, I am happy for you, really. You deserve it after everything you have done for all of us." Bellamy said to her sincerely and she hugged him. "Thanks Bellamy. That means a lot to me." She said before pulling back as Monty was the next one to hug her. "She seems nice and seems to care about you a lot and if she make you happy, I'm good with her. Besides, you two look powerfully cute." He said to her pulling back and she smiled at him.

"I will be sure to tell her that you find her cute, Monty, I don't think anyone has ever called her that before though I agree. But guys, the others don't know anything about this yet and they can't so I would appreciate if you could keep it a secret until I'm ready to tell them, when it is time." She said to them and they nodded. "Of course. We don't want a protective Commander wanting to kill us. Though it will be funny once you introduce her to your parents as your girlfriend. " Bellamy said laughing as did Monty and even Clarke before she slapped his arm.

"Shut up, you stupid jerk. I will have you know that my parents already like her without knowing so when they get to know her, they will love you, I know it so keep the mouth of yours shut and let's get to Quarantine so we can check on Jasper and Maya and the others. Then we have to help with the pyres." She said to them and the boys nodded before they followed her out of the room closing it behind them and moving to the elevator as they waited to go down to meet their friends, happy that they won. Clarke more than the others and honestly, there was only one question in her head,

What is going to happen to now moving forward from this?


End file.
